Goodbye and Hello
by 7thheavengirl08
Summary: This story is about changes that the Camden family will have to endure. Revolves around the whole family, but becomes mainly a Peter/Ruthie story. Warning:CONTAINS THE DEATH OF A MAJOR CHARACTER! Final chapter now up. Please read and review!
1. Bad News

Disclaimer: I own no part of 7th heaven. The only characters that are mine are ones that I made up. I didn't steal this idea from anyone else. This is from my imagintation.

A/N: This is my first fanfiction, so please be patient with me. I would love feedback, especially construstive criticism.

"Ding-Dong"

"I'll get it!" yelled Ruthie as she ran towards the door. She opened it up and saw Sergeant Michaels standing there with a very grim look on his face.

"Ruthie is your mom home?" asked Sergeant Michaels urgently.

"Who is it, Ruthie?" Annie inquired as she walked toward the door. Her face paled when she saw who was standing there. "Something has happened to Eric, hasn't it?"

"Annie, I think it would be best if you sat down." Sergeant Michaels led her over to the couch, and then sat down beside her. "Eric has been in a car accident. It appears that he had a car accident on his way home from church."

"Is he…" Annie couldn't finish.

"No, he's not dead, but he is in a coma. It would be best if we leave for the hospital immediately. I can't lie to you, he's in critical condition."

Annie started crying. "I've got to tell Ruthie and the twins, and I have to call Matt, Mary, Lucy, and Simon, and I have to-"

Ruthie cut her off. Unbeknownst to Annie and Sergeant Michaels, Ruthie had followed them into the living room. "Don't worry about a thing, Mom. You just go to the hospital. I'll take care of telling the twins and calling everyone. I'll even stay here and watch the twins, at least until we can find someone else to watch them."

"Thanks Ruthie. I promise I'll call the minute I know anything…" Annie said as she rushed around the house getting her keys and purse. "I love you!" she called as she rushed out the door.

"Well, where do I start first? I should probably tell Sam and David first so they don't find out by hearing me call everyone. "Ruthie said to herself after Annie had left.

"Tell us what?" asked David as he and Sam walked into the living room "Where's Mom? We wanted her to help us with our schoolwork."

"Sam, David," began Ruthie, "Mom had to go to the hospital. You know how dad's been having heart problems?" The twins both nodded. "Well, today on the way home from the church dad had a heart attack. Do you know what that is?" The twins nodded again.

"Mom told us what it was when Dad first started having problems." Sam stated.

"When he had his heart attack, it caused the car to crash."

"Is he gonna be okay?" asked David

"I don't know, sweetie. I hope so. I have to call everyone now and let them know. You two go up to your room and play, okay?"

"Ruthie, I'm scared. What if he isn't okay?" David whispered, trying his best not to cry.

"Oh, sweetie, come here."

The words were no barely out of Ruthie's mouth before Sam and David rushed to her for a hug.

The three of them stayed that way for a few minutes. Ruthie comforted them the best she could, then sent them upstairs.

"Now, who should I call first?" wondered Ruthie. "Mom needs someone there with her, and since Matt, Sarah, Carlos, and Mary are in New York, it'll take them a while to get here. Lucy will freak out if I call her. That leaves Simon and Kevin. Kevin's closest, so I should probably call him first."

Ruthie had just picked up the phone when it rang. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Ruthie, its Mary. Can I talk to Mom?"

"Oh Mary, I'm so glad you called. Dad had a heart attack on his way home and got into a car accident. Mom's at the hospital. He's in a coma. I'm here watching the twins. I have to call everyone still-" Ruthie rushed out while crying.

"Ruthie, you have to slow down. I can't understand a word you're saying! Now take a deep breath, stop crying, and tell me what's wrong."

"Dad's in the hospital, Mary. He had a heart attack on the way home and got in an accident. He's in a coma. Mom's at the hospital with him."

"Oh no. When did it happen? Why didn't anyone call me?"

"Sergeant Michaels just told us a few minutes ago. I was getting ready to start calling everyone when you called."

"Well, I was calling to tall mom that Matt and I are in Glenn Oak. We flew in to see Dad and wanted her to pick us up."

"I was just getting ready to call Kevin when you called. I'll have him stop by and pick you guys up."

"Okay, thanks Ruthie. Don't worry about calling Carlos or Sarah. I'll tell Matt and while we're waiting for Kevin he can call Sarah and I'll call Carlos." Mary said, and then, in usual Camden fashion, hung up without saying goodbye.

Ruthie hung up the phone. "Well, that's three less people I have to tell, thank goodness. I suppose I'd better call Kevin now." She picked up the phone and started dialing.

"Hello?"

"Kevin, its Ruthie."

"Ruthie, what's wrong? Don't try to tell me that nothing's wrong because I know you better than that."

Ruthie started crying again. "Dad had a heart attack on his way home from the church and got in a car accident. He's in a coma, Kevin."

"Oh man. Where are you? I'm at home watching Sam and David. Mom went to the hospital."

"Alright, I'll stop by and pick you and the twins up, and then we'll go to the hospital."

"Kevin, Matt and Mary need picked up at the airport. They came to surprise mom and dad with a visit. Why don't you drop Savannah off here, go pick up Matt and Mary, then go to the hospital. Sam, David, and Susannah don't need to be there right now. Anyways, I still need to call Simon. Did you want to Lucy or did you want me to?" By this time Ruthie had stopped crying.

"Do you think you can deal with Lucy right now? You know how she can get."

"Yeah, I can handle it."

"Okay then, I'll be there in a little bit to drop Savannah off. Bye."

"Well," though Ruthie, "only two more to call. I better call Lucy or she'll complain she's always the last one to find out. "She then dialed Lucy's cell phone number.

"Hello?"

"Lucy? It's Ruthie."

"Hey Ruthie, what's up?"

"Lucy, Dad had a heart attack on his way home from the church and got in an accident. He's in a coma."

"What? No, that can't be true. He was fine when he left here. In fact, he was in a really good mood."

"It is true. Captain Michaels came to the house and told us. Mom's at the hospital now, and Kevin is going to drop Savannah off here, then go pick Matt and Mary up at the airport. I still have to call Simon and tell him, and then I'm sure he'll be on his way up here."

"Matt and Mary are here already?"

"They had flown in to surprise Mom and Dad with a visit."

"Tell Kevin to pick me up at the church. I rode in with Dad today. I wasn't ready to leave when he was, so I told him Kevin could pick me up when I was ready."

"Okay, I'll tell him. He should be here any time now."

Ruthie ended the call. Only one more person to call. She wondered how Simon would take the news.

"What? You have got to be kidding!" Simon exploded. "I just talked to him earlier today and he said he was feeling great."

"I know. He told me the same thing. I thought maybe he was getting better."

"I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? I'll swing by the house and pick you, Sam, David, and Savannah up. You shouldn't have to stay home. We should all be there, even the twins."

"Actually, why don't I talk to Kevin about getting someone to watch Savannah? She'd just get crabby if we took her to the hospital."

"Okay, that sounds good. I'll be there in a couple of hours."

Ruthie sighed as she hung up the phone. Finally, all the phone calls were done. Just then the door opened. "Ruthie?" Kevin called.

"I'm in the kitchen," Ruthie replied.

"Here's Savannah. Everything she needs is in the diaper bag," Kevin said

"Okay. I called Simon, and he's going to swing by the house and pick the twins and me up. I thought I'd get a neighbor or someone to watch Savannah."

"That's fine with me. I agree that you and the twins should be there." Kevin set Savannah down and started towards the door.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Lucy needs you to pick her up at the church. She rode with Dad today."

"Okay, I'll pick her up, and then we'll go get Matt and Mary."

"Alright. Call me if anything changes?"

"Of course I will." Kevin reached out and pulled Ruthie into a hug. "Everything's going to be okay, Ruthie."

Ruthie started crying. "I know. I'm just so scared. What if everything isn't fine? What if Dad never wakes up?"

"I'm sure he will Ruthie. He won't give up without a fight. He loves his family too much for that." With that Kevin left.

Savannah started to cry. Ruthie stooped down and picked her up. "You're probably tired. It's your naptime right now, isn't it?" Ruthie went upstairs and put Savannah into her port-a-crib that was always at the Camden's house. "You go to sleep now." She turned off the light and shut the door. "I should probably call the Colonel and Grandma Ruth. They'll want to know what's going on." she headed down the stairs and picked up the phone once again.

A few minutes later, Ruthie had just gotten off the phone when it rang. "Hello?"

"Ruthie, its Matt."

"Matt, are you at the hospital yet? How's Dad doing? Is he awake yet?"

"Ruthie, I just finished talking to the doctors. Dad's dying, Ruthie. He's not going to wake up."

"No, that can't be right. He's not dying, and he is going to wake up. You're wrong, Matt., you're wrong! Put Mom on."

"Ruthie?" Annie said through tears

"Mom, tell me that Matt's wrong. Dad isn't going to die, and he is going to wake up!"

"Ruthie, I'm sorry. What Matt said is true."

Ruthie lost it then. She started sobbing while still holding the phone. Sam and David heard her and ran into the kitchen to see what was wrong.

"Ruthie, what's wrong? Is it Dad?"

Ruthie couldn't answer them. Instead, she pulled them into a tight hug and cried even harder. They stayed that way for several minutes, until Ruthie heard the dial tone on the phone and realized that her mom had hung up a while ago. Slowly, she stood up and dried her tears. "Sam, David, go up to your room and get ready. We're going to the hospital as soon as Simon gets here."

They obeyed immediately. They could tell something was wrong, but they didn't know what. All they knew was that it wasn't good and it had something to do with dad.


	2. Saying Goodbye, part one

Disclaimer: I still don't own 7th heaven or it's charachters. If I did, it would still be on tv.

A/N: sorry about any mistakes. I don't have a beta, so any mistakes are mine. I'll try not to make you wait too long between chapters, but I'm working two jobs now, so we'll see. I promise I will finish this story, because I absolutely hate it when I read a story that hasn't been updated ina year and isn't finished. Okay, I'm done rambling now. Pleae R&R. Enjoy!

"Ruthie? Where are you?" Ruthie heard Simon call.

"I'm in the here," she responded.

Simon followed the sound of Ruthie's voice to the kitchen. As soon as she saw him, she jumped up and ran into his arms. She had never been so happy to see him in her life. "Simon, I'm so scared."

"I know Ruthie, I am too. But you know how Dad is. He never gives up easily."

Ruthie stayed in Simon's arms for a few more seconds, and then Simon spoke up. "Are you, Sam, and David ready to go?"

"Yeah, we need to drop Savannah off next door at Mrs. Simmons. She said she'd gladly watch her for as long as needed."

"Okay. Sam, David, time to go," Martin yelled up the stairs. Sam and David ran down the stairs and out to Simon's car. Ruthie went upstairs and got Savannah, then took her next door. Simon turned off the light and locked the door, then got in the car. Ruthie cam back and got in the car, and they left.

When they arrived at the hospital, Ruthie and Simon each took one of the twins' hands and walked inside and up to ICU. Right before they went through the doors that would take them to the waiting room, Ruthie grabbed Simon's arm. "Sam, David, go on in. Tell everyone we'll be in there shortly," said Ruthie.

"What's the matter, Ruthie?" asked Simon.

"Matt called earlier. Dad's dying, Simon. The doctor's don't think he's going to wake up. They said that his heart's just too weak."

"What? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Simon yelled.

"I haven't told the twins, and I didn't want them to overhear while I was telling you."

"I'm sorry, Ruthie. I didn't mean to yell at you. It was just a shock to me. I mean, this morning I talked to Dad on the phone and he said he was fine, and then I get a call from you this afternoon saying he was in the hospital."

"I know you didn't mean it Simon. We should probably get in there before they start to worry." Ruthie said, heading towards the doors.

Almost immediately after they had walked into the waiting room, a doctor came out. "Mrs. Camden," he asked.

Annie stood up. "I'm Mrs. Camden," she said.

"You're husband is awake."

Annie stared at him in shock. "You said he wouldn't wake up."

"I know what we said. There's no medical explanation for this. Unfortunately, I'm afraid we can't change our diagnosis. You're husband is still dying."

"How much longer does he have to live?"

"Mrs. Camden, despite what you may see on TV or read in books, we don't tell people how long they have to live. We don't know ourselves most of the time. All I can tell you is he is going to die. I do thick that it would be wise to get your whole family here so you can say your goodbyes. I'm sorry I don't have better new for you." With that he turned around and walked out of the room.

Annie turned to Matt and Mary. "Are Carlos and Sarah on their way?" They both nodded their heads. She then turned to Ruthie. "Did you call the Colonel and Grandma Ruth? After Ruthie had responded affirmatively, Annie asked, "What about Grandpa and Ginger?"

"Mom, I called the Colonel and Grandma Ruth, T-Bone, Margaret, and Jane, and others that I knew Dad would want to be here." Ruthie said, exasperated with all of her mother's questions.

"Who are the others?" Annie asked curiously.

"Umm, let's see here, Chandler, Robbie, and Rabbi and Mrs. Glass." Ruthie answered, ticking each one off on her fingers as she said their name. "Oh yeah, Grandma Ruth said that George is home on leave, so he was coming, too."

"Thank you so much Ruthie. I never would have even thought to call those people. This will mean so much to your dad."

"Mom," Kevin said. Annie turned towards him. "I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of calling some people too. I called Martin and Rose. I hope you don't mind, but I knew they would want to say goodbye to him as well."

"When do they get in?" inquired Annie.

Matt looked at his watch. "Carlos and Sarah should be getting in…right now. Oh, man I've got to go get them. I completely forgot about picking them up." He looked at Ruthie and Kevin. "When do the others get in?"

"The Colonel, Grandma Ruth and George should be arriving any moment, too. Chandler, Robbie, and Rabbi and Mrs. Glass arrive about ten minutes after them" said Ruthie. T-Bone, Margaret, and Jane are going to get here as soon as they all get off of work.

"Martin was going to drive here, so he should be here in about forty-five minutes or so. Rose was going to drive here as well, so she should arrive any minute.

"Okay, Ruthie and I will go to the airport and pick everyone up. We'll get Carlos, Sarah, the Colonel and Grandma Ruth, then I'll bring them back here and drop them off, then I'll go pick up Chandler, Rabbi and Mrs. Glass, Robbie, and Ruthie. Does that take care of everyone?" asked Matt, looking around the room. Everyone nodded. "Okay then, Ruthie, let's go."

After they got to the airport, Matt and Ruthie split up. Matt went to wait for Carlos and Sarah, and Ruthie went to wait for the Colonel, Grandma Ruth, and George. Once they had met back up, and greetings were exchanged, Matt gave everyone an update. "Dad is awake now, but the doctors don't hold much hope for him living much longer. In fact, they told us to get all of our family here so they could say their goodbyes." Everyone looked shocked. They had thought that Eric would pull through, like he always had before. Matt gave time for that information to sink in before saying, "Ruthie is going to stay here and wait for others that are flying in while I drop you off at the hospital."

After Matt left, Ruthie went to wait for Chandler, who would be the next one arriving. When she saw him, she just stood there staring. Roxanne was with him. "Roxanne? What are you doing here? When did you get back from Iraq?"

"Hi Ruthie," responded Roxanne laughingly, "nice to see you again, too."

"Sorry, it's just that when I called Chandler he didn't say anything about you coming along too."

Chandler entered the conversation then. "That's because I didn't know. Roxanne surprised me with a visit right as I was leaving, and when I told her about your dad, she insisted on coming along."

"In answer to your questions, Ruthie, I just got back from Iraq a month ago. I was planning on coming here to visit after I visited Chandler, so when I heard the news I decided to come along."

Ruthie looked at her watch and groaned. "Oh man, Robbie's flight landed two minutes ago. I've got to go meat him. Do you want to come get me or go get your luggage?

"I think we'll go get our luggage." said Chandler. "I know how close you and Robbie were, so I want to give you two a little time alone."

Ruthie flashed him a smile. "Okay. After I meet Robbie, I have to meet Rabbi and Mrs. Glass, so I'll meet you down by the luggage after that." Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Ruthie took off running towards Robbie's gate. When she got there, the passengers were just starting to exit into the concourse. After a few minutes, Ruthie saw Robbie. She smiled and waved at him, but he walked right on by. "Hmm, that's strange," she thought. "Maybe he didn't see me." Ruthie called out his name. Robbie looked around. When he saw her he gave her a funny look, then, after a few seconds, broke into a grin.

"Ruthie Camden, is that you?" he asked. When she nodded, he pulled her into a hug. "My goodness, Snookie, you've grown up. I didn't recognize you at first."

Ruthie laughed. "I guess it has been a while since you've seen me, hasn't it? I just kind of took for granted that you'd recognize me."

"It's my own fault, Ruthie. I haven't stayed in contact like I should. I was still picturing you as a little twelve year old girl, like you were before I left for Florida. How old are you now, anyway?"

"I'm 17. I'll be 18 in a few months."

"Wow. I didn't realize that I'd been out of touch with all of you for five years."

"Everyone is going to be so happy to see you again. I just wish it could be under better circumstances."

"Yeah, so do I."

Just then Ruthie saw Rabbi and Mrs. Glass. "Rabbi, over here!" she called.

"Ruthie, hello. How are you holding up?" asked Rabbi Glass.

"Well, I'm doing better than I was when I first heard the news. It's still hard, but I don't think it's fully sunk in yet. I feel like this is all one big nightmare, and when I wake up Dad will be fine."

Rosina Glass gave her a sympathetic smile. "Has there been any change in you dad's condition," she asked.

Ruthie hesitated. "Let's wait until we meet up with Matt, Carlos, and Sarah. That way we don't have to tell it over and over again. It's a little easier that way."

"I understand," said Rosina. "Where are they?"

"They're waiting for us down by the luggage. We'd better start heading there. Matt probably thinks I've gotten lost."

Once hey met up with Matt, Carlos, and Sarah, greeting were exchanged and an update given. They then got into the van and headed towards the hospital.

Back at the hospital, a nurse came into the waiting room. "Mrs. Camden, you and your family and friends may now go see Eric, but we would prefer that you limit it to no more than three people in there at a time. Just go back whenever you feel ready. He's in room 212."

"Thank you," said Annie. After the nurse left she turned to the others gathered there, which now included the Colonel and Grandma Ruth, Jane, Margaret, T-Bone, Martin, and Rose. Matt, Ruthie, and the others hadn't gotten there yet. "I'd like to wait until Matt and Ruthie get back, but I don't want to take the chance of someone not getting to speak with him because we waited too long. I've decided that all of the kids and I will wait until they get here. The rest of you, however, can go on in if you'd like."

The Colonel and Grandma Ruth stood up. "We'll go first," said the Colonel. "That is, if nobody minds." Everyone shook their heads negatively. Grandma Ruth turned to Annie, "Annie dear, I really think that you should go in first. He's going to want to see you more than anyone else.

Annie, who had kept her composure all day, broke down then. Lucy and Mary rushed to comfort their mother. "I don't think I can see him, knowing that he's going to die. I just don't think I can," cried Annie.

"Mom, if you don't go see him, I know you'll regret it. Knowing, Dad, he probably has some idea of what's going on, but he's going to get worried if you don't go and see him." said Mary.

Annie wiped away her tears, got up, and headed down the hall to Eric's room. When she got there, she took a deep breath and then went in.

Eric was sleeping. "Eric," she called softly, "Eric, it's Annie. Wake up."

Eric opened his eyes. "Annie," he said smiling. "I love you."

After Eric said those words, Annie's eyes filled with tears. She did her best to hide them, but Eric still saw them.

"Annie, it's going to be okay."

"No, it isn't, Eric. I don't think I can go on without you." Annie covered her mouth after she said that. "Now I've done it," she thought. "I've let him know he's dying."

"Annie," Eric said gently, "I already knew that I'm dying."

"You do?" she said in surprise.

"Yes, I do. No one's told me, I just knew. You have to go on without me. You have to take care of Sam, David, and Ruthie. You have to be there when Ruthie gets married. You have to be there when the twins graduate from high school. You have to be there to watch our grandchildren grow up. You have to be there to do all the things I won't be able to do, Annie. Please, promise you'll go on."

"I promise," Annie said.

"Even though I won't be there in person, I'll be there with you in spirit. Never forget that."

"I won't, Eric Camden. I love you and I will always love you."

"I love you too, Annie. From the moment I first saw you, I knew we were meant to be together." Eric gave Annie a kiss. "Can I see the others?"

When Annie went back out to the waiting room, Matt and the others had arrived. "How's Dad?" asked Matt.

"He knows that he's dying." replied Annie. "He's in good spirits. He wants to see all of you. Matt and Sarah, why don't you go first, then Mary and Carlos, Lucy and Kevin, Simon, Ruthie, then the twins. After them, you and Ruth should go, Colonel. The rest of you can decide among yourselves who goes next."

Matt and Sarah headed down the hallway and entered Eric's room.

"Matt and Sarah," said Eric looking very pleased, "I'm glad you both came."

"How could we stay away? We missed you too much." Matt said jokingly.

"Did you bring your twins?"

"No, "replied Sarah. "We left them with a neighbor. It would have been too stressful too bring them along, with them being so young. We did, however, bring a video of them." She pulled a DVD out of her purse and popped it into the TV that was in the room. Eric watched it for a little while, and then said, "I can watch this later. Right now I'd rather just talk with the two of you. How are your jobs going?"

"Oh, they're going great, Dad. At least mine is. You'll have to ask Sarah about hers. I absolutely love being an obstetrician. I just wish we lived closer, rather than in New York.

"Mine is going great, too, Dad. At times it's hard being a pediatrician in a hospital, like when you see a child that's been in an accident, or has been abused, but the feeling that you get from helping them is absolutely wonderful."

"Matt, Sarah, I would love to just talk small talk with you, but the two of you know, and I know, that this will probably be the last time you see me. I want to tell you both that I love you very much. Sarah, I was a little bit skeptical when I found out that you were Jewish, but you have come to be like another daughter to me. You have been so good for Matt. I'm glad that you became a part of our family. Matt, you're the oldest. When we almost lost you at birth, I was so scared. I loved you so much and I hadn't really met you. That love has grown over the years. I am very proud to call you my son. You have been strong for the others in the past, now I need you to be strong for them again. They're all going to take it hard, but I think that Ruthie will take it the hardest. You have Sarah, Mary has Carlos, Lucy has Kevin, and I suspect that Simon has someone as well, although he hasn't told us outright. The twins are really still to young to totally comprehend it, and they have your Mom, and she has all of you. Ruthie really doesn't have anyone. She's going to need an older brother to lean on.

"I'll take care of everyone, Dad. As for Ruthie, she has T-Bone, doesn't she?"

"I really don't think that she and T-Bone are supposed to be together."

"Well, what about Martin?"

"She doesn't trust Martin anymore. Not after her wanting to date him for so long, and then only when she starts getting serious with someone else does he show any interest. She's not going to lean on him. I always felt that she'd end up with Peter, but that pretty much ended once he moved away."

"I'll take care of her Dad, don't worry."

"I know you will, son."

"Dad, I just want to say thank you for everything you've done for me. You mentored me, you encouraged me, you instructed me, but most of all, you loved me. I don't think I would have become what I am today if it hadn't been for you. I couldn't have asked for a better Dad." Matt's eyes filled with tears and he couldn't go on.

Sarah slipped her hand into Matt's and said, "Dad, I want to thank you for making me feel welcome in the family, even though I was Jewish. You've always made me feel loved and welcome in the family. I have come to love you as a father. I just wish that our children could have gotten to know you. They would have adored you. When they get older, I'm going to tell them all about their Grandpa Eric and what a good dad, grandpa, and minister he was. I love you, Dad." She bent down and gave him a kiss, and then she and Matt walked out of the room.

When they got back to the waiting room, Mary and Carlos went in. "Hi Dad," said Mary.

"Hi yourself, stranger." replied Eric, smiling.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to visit more frequently, Dad. That was wrong of me. I-"

Eric cut her off. "Don't dwell on what could have been or should have been, Mary. Dwell on what was. Think about all the happy times we had together. Think of all the basketball that we played, and of the holidays that we celebrated. It makes it that much harder if you look back with regret instead of happiness."

"I know Dad, but it's hard."

"I won't argue with you there. Let's talk about something else. How are Charlie and the girls?"

"They're doing great. They're all getting so big so fast." answered Mary

"I remember feeling that way when you were growing up. I remember the day you were born, how tiny you were. And look at you now, all grown up with a family of your own. I love you Mary, I hope you know that. I don't care about what you did in the past. What's past is past. Mary, you're my oldest Daughter. I watched you grown from a little baby to a toddler, then to a teenager. When you got into trouble, and I had to send you to live with my parents, it broke my heart. More than anything I wanted you to stay with me. But I knew that was what was best for you then. I'm glad that I did, because it helped make you what you are now, which is a wonderful wife, daughter, and mother. Carlos, when I first met you at that soup kitchen, I was skeptical. I figured you were some kind of lazy bum that didn't want to work. Then, when Mary came home and told us that she had gotten married, and it was to you, I was shocked. But I'm glad she chose you, Carlos. I was devastated when you two got divorced, then I was thrilled when I learned at Simon and Rose's almost wedding that not only were you two back together again, but you were expecting twins. You are like another son to me, Carlos. Take care of Mary.

"I will, Dad." answered Carlos.

Mary spoke up then. "Dad I'm so sorry that I failed you. First, when I was in highschool, and then again when I abandoned Carlos and Charlie. I just want to let you know that it wasn't your fault. You did everything right. I'm the one who messed up, not you. I love you so much. I just wish that my kids could get to know you better. I'm going to tell them all about you, and how you were the best Dad ever to me and my brothers and sisters, and a great husband to Grandma Annie, and a great minister to your church." Mary bent down and gave him a hug and kiss, then stepped back and slipped her hand into Carlos' hand.

"Dad," Carlos began, "you accepted me from the very beginning, when Mary first brought me home from that soup kitchen. Then after a while, you accepted me again as Mary's husband. I couldn't have asked for a better father-in-law. I promise that I will take care of Mary and your grandchildren. I'm going to miss you very much." He gave Eric a hug, and then he and Mary left the room.


	3. Saying Goodbye, part two

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own 7th heaven or any of the characters. This is just for fun.**

**A/N:** Well, here's another chapter. please, please, read and review. I absolutley love reviews! I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible. More reviews would definitely get me motivated to get a new chapet up quickly. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to hold out for a certain amount of reviewsbefore i psot another chapter.

_7thheaven4evr-thank you so much for giving me my first review. I was so excited when I read it! Don't worry, I'll definitely write more._

_edward-and-bella-forever-thank you for giving me my second review. I know it's sad. I've almost started crying a few times when I was wiriting this. keep on reading!_

It was now Lucy and Kevin's turn to go in and see Eric. They were almost to his room when Lucy stopped. "What's wrong?" asked Kevin.

"I don't think I can do this. I don't think I can go in there and see my dad lying in a hospital bed knowing that he's going to die, knowing that this may be the last chance I get to see him."

"You can too do this, Luce. You have to. Your dad is going to want to see you. You'll regret it if you don't see him now, and I know that it would hurt him deeply if you refused to see him. Think of how you would feel if you were dying and he refused to see you."

"You're right. I know you're right, you're always right." Lucy took a deep breath, then turned the door knob and entered her father's room. "Hi Dad," she said.

"Lucy, Kevin. Somehow I knew you two would be next."

"Mom's doing it in age order. She thought it'd be easier this way." Lucy explained.

"Is Savannah here?"

Kevin shook his head negatively. "She's staying at your neighbor's house. We thought it'd be too tiring for her to be here."

"You're right it would be. Tell her that Grandpa said hi and give her a big kiss and hug for me next time you see her, will you?"

"Of course we will, Dad. I wish you could give it to her yourself, but there's no way the staff would let her in here. Mom had a hard enough time getting them to let Sam and David see you." Lucy said with a sigh.

"That's okay. Hospitals have rules for a reason." replied Eric.

Lucy looked at Kevin. "Is it okay if I tell him?" she asked. Kevin nodded. "Dad, we have something to tell you."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"We're going to have a baby!"

"Luce, that's great! How far along are you?"

"Three months. I'm due in April. We waited a little longer to tell anyone this time because of what happened with our twins. We're still going to wait a little longer to tall everyone else, though."

"Don't wait too much longer. The family is going to need some good news. I think you should go ahead and tell everyone today."

"I think we will." Kevin said while looking to Lucy for her opinion.

"That's definitely a good idea. Anyways, if we wait too much longer, they're going to notice. I'm already starting to show a little bit."

"I can't believe that you're having your second child already. It seems like just yesterday Annie was pregnant with you. I remember the day you came home from the hospital. You were so tiny. Every time Matt and Mary held you, I was afraid you were going to break." Eric said, smiling at the memory. "Then, before I knew it, you were crawling, and then walking. Next thing I knew, you were a teenage excited because you were finally a women. Then I hear a noise one night, and you're down in the kitchen kissing a strange man that I had never met. It seemed like the very next day I was watching Matt walk this beautiful lady down the aisle to get married. You grew up so fast, Luce. I hope you'll never forget that I love you. I'm so proud of you for becoming a minister. I know that my church will be in good hands with you. Kevin, I have come to think of you as my son. I knew from the moment I saw you that you would be the on to steal my Lucy away from me. I always thought that I would be worried when the day came to give her to another man, but I felt completely at peace. I knew that you would take care of her and love her. Hope that you'll continue to take care of her after I'm gone. She's going to need your support to help her get through this."

"Dad, you've always been there for me, from the time I was little until now. I've looked up toy you and admired you for so long, both as a father and a minister. You were the one that inspired me to become a minister. I only hope that I will be as good at it as you were. I'll take good care of your church, and when it comes time for me to pass it on to someone else, I'll make sure that I leave it in good hands. I love you, Dad." Lucy said with tears streaming down her face. She leaned down and gave her father a kiss. Kevin pulled her into a hug.

"Even though I'm not your son, you have treated me as one since before I married Lucy. I admired you from the first time I saw you coming down the stairs holding a baseball bat. I that Lucy thought the world of you, and that made me respect you from before I even met you. I love you, Dad, as much as I loved my own dad. I wish that Savannah and the child in Lucy's womb right now could have grown up knowing you. I'm going to miss you. Kevin then guided Lucy, now blinded by tears, out of the room.

While Lucy and Kevin had been in Eric's room, Hank and Julie had arrived. It was decided that they would go in to See Eric after the Colonel and Grandma Ruth.

When Kevin and Lucy came back out, it was Simon's turn. Before going out of the waiting room, he turned and looked at Rose. "Will you go in with me?" he asked. Rose nodded, and went to join Simon. Together they walked towards the room.

When Simon and Rose walked in, Eric looked surprised, and then happy to see Rose there. "Rose, it's so good to see you." he said.

"Wait a minute, what about me?" joked Simon. "I am your son after all."

Eric joked back, "Yeah, but she's prettier." They all laughed. "I am very glad that you're here, Rose."

"Thank you Reverend Camden."

"I have a feeling that there's more to you being here than just wanting to see me."

Simon and Rose looked at each other and smiled. "Dad," said Simon, "after our almost wedding, I couldn't stop thinking about Rose, but I knew that she was with Umberto, so I never called her. Then one day, she called me. She said that Umberto had eloped with another girl the previous night. She also told me that she still had feelings for me, so I told her how I felt about her. That was about five months ago. Yesterday, I asked Rose to marry me. She said yes!"

"I'm happy for you son, but are you sure that it's love this time?"

"Dad, I've never felt like this about anyone else. I love Rose with my whole being. I didn't feel like this the last time we were engaged, but I know for sure that it's definitely love this time. We would like to have your blessing on our marriage."

"Simon, I've watched you grow from a little baby into the man you are today. I couldn't be more proud to call you my son. You have made some wrong choices along the way, but you've also made some very good choices. The good choices far out number the bad, and, Simon, I think this is definitely a good choice. I only wish that I could be there to see you get married. Rose, I am proud to accept you as my future daughter-in-law. I think that you'll be very good for Simon. When you and Simon got engaged the first time, I couldn't stand you at first. Then, later on, as I got to know you, I came to love you. I was saddened when you and Simon broke it off, but I knew it was for the best. Now, I am pleased to know that Simon will have someone there with him after my death. He's going to need you, Rose. I gladly give the two of you my blessing."

"Dad, I know that I haven't been around much lately, and at times I've acted like I didn't care much about what you told me, but it was times like that when I listened the most. I may not have shown it, but I took every word that you said to heart. I just wish I had treated you better and seen you more often. You've always been so understanding, and I knew that if I ever had a problem I could come to you for advice. I'm going to miss your being there, Dad. I'm going to miss all the talks we had. Even though I don't always show it, I do love you Dad, very much." Simon couldn't go on.

"Reverend Camden-"

Eric stopped her. "Now that you're going to be part of the family I want you to call me Dad or Eric, okay?"

Rose blushed. "Dad, I've always been so grateful about how understanding you were about my relationship with Simon. I know that you weren't always happy about our being together, but you still made me feel welcome. When Simon and I decided not to get married, you were still understanding. I wish that I could have gotten to know you better. Simon always talks so highly of you. Thank you for giving us your blessing."

After Rose had finished, Simon leaned down to give his Dad a hug. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too son."

Simon took Rose's hand in his own and walked out the door. When they got in the hallway, they saw Ruthie coming towards them. "Simon, will you stay with me while I go in?"

"Sure, but are you sure you want me and not T-Bone or Martin?"

"T-Bone and I broke up last night, and I don't want Martin with me. I want you."

"Oh, Ruthie, I'm sorry, I didn't know about you and T-Bone."

"That's okay. I really didn't have a chance to tell anyone, but I'm sure they all know by know because he's been avoiding me like the plague. Enough about me and T-Bone, I want to go see Dad."

Simon turned around and walked back to Eric's room with Ruthie. When Ruthie saw her Dad lying in the hospital bed, she let out a cry and flung herself at him, crying. "Oh Daddy, please don't go, please!"

"Ruthie," Eric said gently, "it's my time to go, honey. I can't help it. I wish I could stay here and watch you go off to college and get married and have babies, but God wants me to go. I want you to know that I love you very much, and I'd give anything to be able to live."

"Dad, I'm going to miss you so much. You know how every girl always dreams about her wedding?" When Eric nodded, Ruthie went on. "Well, I'm no different. In all of my dreams I pictured you waiting at the front of the church, watching me walk down the aisle, like you did with Lucy. I pictured you marrying me to the man that I loved. That won't happen now, but I know that when that day does come, you'll be there with me. I may not be able to see you, but I know you'll be there in spirit. I'm so sorry for the way I treated you while I was in Scotland and after I came home. I was such a brat. I hope you'll forgive me. I love you, Daddy."

"Of course I forgive you, Ruthie. I know how hard it must have been for you, to find out that your Dad has a serious heart problem when your half a world away. I know that you didn't mean what you did and said. I do have a question for you, though. Why didn't you have T-Bone come in here with you? Why Simon?"

"T-Bone and I broke up last night. He's currently avoiding me like the plague."

"Who broke up with whom?"

"I broke up with him. I don't love him, Dad. I thought I did, but I don't. I think the only reason I liked him was because it mad Martin jealous. I don't know why I did that. I never really liked Martin either. I realized that when he finally asked me out. I just wanted to date him because he wouldn't date me. I wanted what I couldn't have."

"I know this is probably going to sound stupid, but what about Peter? Did you love him or where you just friends."

"This probably sounds really weird, because I haven't seen him in forever, but I did love Peter. I still do. Of course, there's no chance of us getting together now. I don't even know how to get a hold of him, and I feel really bad because he'd want to know about you."

"Go in the glove compartment of Mom's van. Inside will be an envelope with my name on it. Open that and you'll find an envelope with your name on it. Inside will be his phone number."

"Really? Oh thanks, Dad!" Ruthie squealed as she gave him a hug. She dashed out of the room.

"You just made her day, Dad."

"I know. Simon, will you do me a favor?"

"Sure Dad, anything."

"In the drawer in the bedside table is an envelope with Peter's name on it. If he doesn't make it here in time give him the envelope. If he does, then open the envelope and you'll find two letters. They're marked with the number one and the number two. Give him the one marked number two."

"Okay."

"Thank you son."

After Simon had gotten the envelope, he stuck it in his pocket and walked out of the room. When he got to the waiting room he said to Sam and David, "It's your turn now, guys."

The twins jumped up from their seats. "Hold it just a minute there guys, I'm going in with you." When the twins sighed Annie said, "The only way the doctor will let you in is if I'm with you." She grabbed the twins' hands and walked towards Eric's room. When they got to the door, Annie stopped. "You guys need to be very quiet, okay?" When they both nodded, Annie opened the door.

"Sam, David! How are my two little guys doing?"

"We're doing good, Daddy, but you're not. That's why you're in the hospital." stated Sam.

"Yeah, Mommy says that you're going to go to heaven. We don't want you to go."

"I know boys. I don't want to go either, but I have to. I wish I could stay here with the two of you forever. I've had so much fun home schooling the two of you the last few months. I got to spend a lot of time with you guys, teaching and having fun at the same time.

"Daddy, I know that you have to go, but I don't want you to. I wish you could live forever. I really liked school when you taught David and me. You made school fun. I'm going to miss you, Daddy. I love you."

"I'm going to miss you, too, Sam. Never forget that I love you."

David was trying to be brave, but Eric could tell that he was fighting a losing battle against tears. "Daddy, I love you, and even though you're going to heaven, I'm still going to miss you. School won't be as fun without you teaching Sam and me. Mommy's a fun teacher, too, but you're funner. Don't worry; I'm going to take care of Mommy, Sam, and Ruthie. I love you lots and lots, Daddy."

"I love you too, David. I'm going to miss you, but remember that I'll be watching you from heaven, okay?" David nodded. He gave his dad a hug and kiss, and then he couldn't hold the tears back any longer. Sam started crying then as well.

Eric gave Annie a sympathetic look as she took the boys out of the room.

When Annie got back to the waiting room, the Colonel, Ruth, and George went to see Eric. After Annie had gotten the twins settled down, she asked, "Where's Ruthie? I haven't seen her since she went in to see your dad."

"She went to call Peter and tell him about Dad." answered Simon

"Peter? As in Peter Petrowski?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know she had his phone number."

"She didn't. Dad did, so he gave it to her."

Just then Ruthie walked back in. "Guess who I found wandering around."

"Who/" everyone wanted to know.

Ben stepped around the corner.

"Ben? What are you doing here?" asked Kevin in disbelief.

"A friend and I were in town. We stopped over by your house and the Camden house trying to find you. After no one answered at the Camden house, we were standing around trying to figure out where to check next when my friend's cell phone rang. While he was talking on it a neighbor lady came out and asked if I was looking for the Camdens. When I said yes, she told me what had happened and that you were at the hospital. I went to tell my friend, He's someone that all of you know, but he already knew. The phone call had told him the same thing the neighbor lady told me."

"Who is your friend? And who called him?" asked Annie.

"Mom," Ruthie said, "the friend is Peter, and I was the one who called him."

Peter stepped around the corner then. "Hi, everyone." he said.

Annie was just about to say something when a nurse came rushing in, followed by the Colonel and Ruth and George. "Mrs. Camden, your husband just went into cardiac arrest. We were able to get his heart started again, but anyone who hasn't seen him yet should go see him now."

Annie stared at the nurse in disbelief. "I was just in there talking to him. He seemed fine!"

"Mom, Dad seemed fine this morning, too, remember?"

Annie nodded, and then turned to everyone gathered there. "Well, we're going to have to rush things a bit. Who wants to go next? We'll send three in at a time."

"I'll go." said Chandler.

'I'd like to go too." said Richard Glass.

Robbie spoke up then. "I'll be the third person."

"Okay, the three of you go in. When the first person is done, they can come back out and we'll send another person in and so on." instructed Annie.

When Richard, Chandler, and Robbie entered Eric's room, Eric looked very pale and tired. "Richard. Chandler. Robbie. I'm so glad to see you all." Eric said weekly. "Chandler and Richard, I'd like you to do my funeral. Chandler, if you would like to come back to the church, your old position is still open."

"Really?" asked Chandler. I've been thinking about coming back, but since Lucy was now your associate pastor…"

"Lucy is going to need and wan t your help. She's spoken to me many times about having you come back."

"Thank you so much, Eric. I wish that that my return could be under better circumstances, though."

"So do I, Chandler."

Eric and Chandler talked for a few minutes longer, and then chandler went back out to the waiting room, where Martin was waiting to go in.

Eric talked to Richard next. "Richard, you've been a great friend over the years. I want to thank you for your friendship. Tell Rosina hi for me, will you?"

"Of course I will, Eric." Richard could tell Eric was starting to get weaker, so he left and sent in T-Bone.

"Reverend Camden, you've been like a dad to me." said Robbie. You took me in when I had no home, and I want to thank you for that. I was a complete stranger, but you treated me like one of your own kids. I'm sorry that I've been out of touch for so long. I should have kept in better contact with you and your family."

"Robbie, you have always felt like one of my sons. No need to worry about being out of contact, we could have contacted you, too. All is forgiven." Robbie left then, and sent Jane in.

Martin was next. "Reverend Camden, I can't thank you enough for taking me in while my dad was in Iraq. I loved living with your family. You made me feel right at home. Thank you for everything you've done for me.

"Martin, my house is always open to you if you ever need a place to stay." Martin didn't want Eric to use up any more of his strength when he still had others to see, so he left and sent in Margaret.

Jane, Margaret, and T-Bone all kind of went at once. "Reverend Camden," Jane began, "thank you so much for taking us all in when we were living in my car. Also, thank you for helping me get things straightened out with George."

"I could never have just left you to live in a car when I had a big house with plenty of room to spare. As for you and George, you just had to get you priorities straight."

T-Bone spoke up. "Reverend Camden, you have been so nice to open your house to complete strangers. I just wish there were some way I could pay you back."

"T-Bone, don't stay enemies with Ruthie. Be glad that she told you the truth. That's how you can pay me back."

"Reverend Camden, thank you for taking us in and keeping us safe. You didn't know us, but we became like one of the family. Thank you." said Margaret.

"Margaret, the twins adore you. Will you help Annie with their schooling in your spare time?"

"I'd be glad to, Reverend."

Those words were no sooner out of Margaret's mouth when an alarm sounded from one of the monitors. The room was flooded with doctors and nurses. One of the nurses ushered them out and back to the waiting room. "Mrs. Camden, your husband has gone into cardiac arrest again. If the doctors can get him through it, they can keep him alive long enough for you and the family to say a quick goodbye. Then you can all stay with him for his final moments, if you'd like."

Annie nodded. She, all the Camden children and their spouse or fiancée, in Simon's case, along with the Colonel, Ruth, and George, followed the nurse back to Eric's room. Right as they go there, the doctor came out. "Eric is on a respirator for now. It's what's keeping him alive. However, in his living will, he mad it clear that he didn't want to be kept alive by a respirator. I'm sorry, but we have to go by what it says."

"Please, don't apologize. If it's what Eric wanted, then it's want I want. Just give us enough time for one last goodbye." Annie said firmly.

The doctor agreed and the Camden family filed into the small hospital room. They all said a quick goodbye to the son, husband, and father lying in the hospital bed, then Sarah, Carlos, Kevin, Rose, the Colonel, Ruth, and George left the room, leaving only Annie and the children to watch as the doctor turned off the respirator. "Eric is in a coma, so he won't be in any pain." the doctor said as he left the room to give them some privacy.

Minutes after the respirator had been turned off, Eric stopped breathing. The doctor had left a nurse in the room with them, and she leaned over to check Eric's pulse. There was none. "He's gone," she said softly pulling the sheet over Eric's head. "Time of death 11:39pm."


	4. Planning

While the Camdens were in Eric's room, a few other people had joined those already waiting for news of Eric. Sergeant Michaels had come as soon as he got off duty, and Mac had joined Martin, T-Bone, Jane, and Margaret. Sandy and her fiancé, Dr. Jonathan Sanders, were there also.

When the Camdens got back out to the waiting room, everyone could tell from their faces that Eric had died. Matt headed towards his wife, Mary and Lucy headed towards their husbands, and Simon walked into Rose's arms. Annie, Sam, and David sat down in a corner, and Annie held the twins in her arms while they all cried. 

Ruthie was standing off to the side feeling very alone, when Peter walked up to her. "I'm sorry," he said. Ruthie started sobbing then, no longer able to hold back her tears as she had done since after she and Eric had talked. Peter just stood there, holding her and whispering comforting words to her while gently rubbing her back. 

Almost everyone else left shortly after they heard the news, wanting to give the family some privacy. Only Richard, Chandler, The Colonel, Ruth, George, Hank, and Julie remained. 

After a few minutes, Annie looked up and saw that all of those who weren't family had left, with the exception of Chandler and Richard, had left. She asked Chandler and Richard, "Did Eric talk to you about doing his funeral?" They both nodded. "Okay then, I guess we should start making some plans.

"Annie, why don't you wait a while before you start planning the funeral. Those plans can wait. Just make whatever arrangements that can't wait now and leave the rest for later. From what Ruthie told me, you've been here since you got the news this morning. You need to go home and get some rest." Chandler said, concerned.

"Chandler's right, Mom. It's not going to do you any good to wear yourself out. You'll make yourself sick." Kevin said walking over to her. "In fact, you should let someone drive you home. You're in no shape to drive."

When Annie started to protest, Matt backed Kevin up. "Mom, Kevin's right. The last thing that we need right now is for you to get in an accident."

Annie sighed dejectedly. "You're right. Chandler, would you mind driving the twins and I home in my van?" 

Chandler agreed, and everyone headed for the exit. "Matt, Sarah, and Richard, you can ride in my van. Kevin, why don't you and Lucy take Mary, Carlos, Grandma Ruth, George, and the Colonel in your van?

Simon, that leaves you with Ruthie, and Peter. Is that everyone?" asked Annie.

"Umm, Mom, how are Sarah and I supposed to get home?" asked Matt.

"I'm sorry, Matt. I forgot about the two of you. You can both ride with Simon. Rose, you drove, eight?"

"Yes, I did. Do you need me to take anyone?"

"No, I think we can get everyone. Are you coming to the house or heading back/"

"If you don't mind, and if you have enough room, I'd like to stay at the house, at least for tonight."

That's fine. Between our house, the garage apartment, and Kevin and Lucy's house we should be able to find room for everyone." 

When they got home, Ben, Robbie, Roxanne, and Rosina were there. All the others had gone home, except for Martin, who was staying at his dad's house. "Mom, why don't you go lay down? Between Ruthie, Mary, and I we should be able to figure out sleeping arrangements." said Lucy.

Annie agreed and headed upstairs to her room. "Okay, Simon, George, Peter, and Chandler, you can all stay in the garage apartment. Rose and Roxanne, you can stay in the attic with Ruthie. Matt, you and Sarah can stay in your old bedroom. Mary, why don't you and Carlos take our old room? Rabbi, you and Mrs. Glass can take Simon's old bedroom. Ben, you can stay with the twins in their room. Grandma Ruth, Colonel, Uncle Hank and Aunt Julie, you can stay at my house." Just then Lucy realized that Savannah was still at the neighbor's house. "Kevin, I forgot to get Savannah!"

"Calm down, Luce. Mrs. Simmons said that if we got back late tonight she would just watch Savannah until tomorrow. Seeing as it is," Ruthie paused to look at her watch, "almost 2:30 in the morning, I think this classifies as late."

"Thank goodness. I'd hate to wake Savannah or Mrs. Simmons up at this hour. Come on, everyone, let's go to bed."

The next morning, Annie, Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie sat down with Chandler and Richard to start making funeral arrangements.

"Chandler and Rabbi Glass, if you don't mind I'd like to say a few words at the funeral." Lucy said.

"I don't mind, Lucy." Richard answered. "How about you, Chandler?"

"It's fine with me as well, Lucy, but are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Could it be towards the beginning of the service, though? I don't think I'll be able to make it through what I want to say if it's towards the end."

"Certainly, Lucy." Richard and Chandler answered.

"I have a request, also." said Annie. "I don't want it to be a funeral where everyone is crying all the time and mourning what they lost, but I'd like it to be a celebration. Rather than dwell on his death, I'd like to dwell on his life, and how he lived it to the fullest."

"I think that's a great request, Annie. I know it's what Eric would want." said Chandler.

After they got done making funeral plans, Lucy stood up and asked to speak to Chandler outside. Once they were out side, Lucy said, "Chandler, Dad talked to you about coming back as an associate pastor at the church, right?" When Chandler nodded she went on. "Well, I agree with the idea one hundred percent, but I'd like to take it a step further. What if, instead of you being the associate pastor, you were a senior pastor with me?"

"You mean that the two of us would be co-pastors? Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, we would be co-pastors. We'd both have an equal share of the ministry. I'm positive that this is what I want. I'm not ready to take on my own ministry, even if I do have an associate pastor."

"If you're sure that it's what you want, then, yes, I'll take the position."

"I'm positive. Thank you so much Chandler!"

At the same time that Lucy was talking to Chandler, Simon was talking to Peter inside the house.

"Peter, the last time I spoke to my dad, he said that he always wanted you and Ruthie to get together. In fact he said he was sure that you would eventually get together. So sure that he wrote you a couple of letters a few days before he died. He said that if he didn't get a chance to talk to you, he wanted me to give you both of these letters." Simon said, pulling the envelope out of his pocket and handing it to Peter.

"What are they about?" asked Peter as he turned the envelope over and started opening it.

"I didn't open them, but I would assume that they're about you and Ruthie, since that's what we were talking about right before he gave me these."

"Why would he write me a letter, considering Ruthie and I hadn't even talked for over a year when he wrote these?"

"I don't know Peter. All I know is that Dad wanted you to read them."

"Okay, thanks Simon." said Peter as he started towards the garage apartment. 

Once Peter got to the garage apartment and saw that there was nobody up there, he sat down on the bed and started to read the first letter.

_Dear Peter,_

_If you're reading this letter it means that I didn't get a chance to talk to you before I died. You're probably wondering why on earth I would write you a letter when we haven't seen each other for a couple of years. The answer is Ruthie. Yes, you read that right. Ruthie._

_I have always known somehow ever since I first met you and saw you and Ruthie together that you would be the one my daughter married. When you two never really dated, and then you moved away, I thought maybe I was wrong. Maybe you weren't supposed to marry my daughter, but somehow I knew you would still be the one she ended up with. At the writing of this letter, the two of you haven't talked for over a year, but I have a feeling that will change with my death._

_Now at this point you're probably wondering, "Why me?" I don't know the answer to that question myself; I just know that it will be you._

_Peter, if I had to hand pick someone for Ruthie to marry, I would pick you. You have always been there for her, never once broken her heart like some of the guys she's dated. I know that I would be able to trust you with my daughter._

_Ruthie is going to need someone to lean on in the time immediately following my death. She may not show it outwardly, but she's going to be hurting inside. You're the only one that I know who can get her to open up. Take care of my girl, Peter._

_Eric_

When Peter finished reading the first letter, he just sat there for a few minutes. He couldn't believe that Eric actually wanted Ruthie and him together. Not that he minded; it's just that he never knew Eric liked him so much. He decided to go ahead and read the second letter.

_Dear Peter,_

_I don't know if I got to talk to you before I died or not, but if I didn't, then I told you everything I would have talked to you about in the first letter. I'm sure that you're probably wondering what more I could possibly want to tell you. I want to talk you more about Ruthie._

_I'm sure by now you and Ruthie have seen each other again, so the excuse of not seeing each other in other a year is no longer valid. Are you two together yet? I hope so. I don't want you to push Ruthie, just prod her gently. I felt her out about how she feels about you before I wrote this, and I think that she really does like you still. If I had a chance, then I gave her your phone number before I died, and the call that you received about me came from her. You're probably wondering how I knew you're number. I wrote it down when you called Ruthie when she first got her cell phone. _

_I know that if I had a chance, I asked Ruthie straight out how she felt about you before I died. If I didn't, then I left instructions for Simon to ask her about it. If I did, then I talked to Simon right after I talked to Ruthie, so ask him if you want to know what Ruthie feels about you._

_Pay attention now Peter. I don't want you to feel bad about getting back together with Ruthie because of my death. As much as I wish you could have gotten together before my death, I'm happy that you two will finally be together._

Just then Ruthie walked in. Peter quickly shoved the letter under his pillow. Ruthie gave him a weird look. "What are you trying to hide, Peter Petrowski?" she asked.

"I'll tell you in a little bit. First I have to know something. How do you really feel about me?" Tell me the truth." responded Peter.

"What? Are you crazy? My dad just died and you're asking how I feel about you! How heartless can you be? I thought you were different Peter, I really did. But you're not. You're just the same as all the other guys I've dated. The only difference is that I actually loved you, Peter!"

"Ruthie, settle down please. I'm not trying to be cruel and heartless, I'm…wait a minute, did you just say you loved me?" When Ruthie nodded, Peter continued, this time a little more gently. "Ruthie, your dad left me a couple of letters. In the first one he told me everything that he wanted to tell me before I died. Ruthie, he wanted us to end up together. Here, I'll show you." 

Peter pulled the letters out from under the pillow and handed the first one to Ruthie. She read the first one, and then turned to Peter, held out her hand, and said, "Now the second one."

"No. I haven't had a chance to finish reading the second one yet, so I'm not giving it to you. We can read it together if you want." When Ruthie nodded, he handed the second letter to her and showed her where he had stopped reading. When Ruthie had gotten to the same place as Peter, she shared the letter with him.

_I won't be there when she goes out on her first date with you, or, if it works out when you ask her to marry you. I won't be there on her wedding day. It's going to be those days that she's going to need you the most. _

_You probably think that I'm trying to push you two together and that you have to date her and eventually marry her. That's not the case, Peter. I you really don't love her or she doesn't love you, then I don't want the two of you to date. Don't feel obligated because I had some weird Idea that you and Ruthie would get married one day._

_If you do love her, then ask Ruthie how she feels about you. If she loves you, like I think she does, show her this letter and the one before it if it was given to you._

_Take care of my daughter, Peter. She means the world to me._

_Eric_

By the time Peter and Ruthie were finished reading the letter, tears were streaming down Ruthie's face, and Peter's eyes were suspiciously wet. "Wow," said Ruthie, "I never knew he felt that way about us."

"I didn't either. I f you don't want to go out with me, that's fine. I understand completely."

"Peter, why would I not want to go out with you? I told you that I loved you."

"Okay then, Ruthie Camden, will you go out on a date with me?"

"I have to know something first. How do you really feel about me? Are you doing this just because Dad wanted us together?"

"No. I have loved you from the day I saw you. I wanted to ask you out so bad, but you seemed content with just being friends. Then Martin came along, and I knew there was no chance of getting you to go out with me after that. When my mom and I moved away, I was secretly glad, because it meant that I wouldn't have to see you chase after Martin anymore. Then, of course, once you got your cell phone your dad gave me your number, but you were dating other guys then and I could tell you were still in love with Martin, so I decided to give up any hope of us being together."

"Pater, I never really loved Martin. I just wanted what I couldn't have. I didn't realize it until I talked with Dad right before he died, but I think I've always loved you. I thought I loved Martin, but I didn't, and all he ever did was break my heart. I thought I loved T-Bone, but I realized that I only went out with him to make Martin jealous. So in answer to your question, yes, Peter Petrowski, I will go out on a date with you. Can we wait until the funeral is over to go out? I don't think I'd feel right going out before the funeral." 

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of going out before the funeral. Anyways, you still have to break the news to your family about us dating."

"I think that after what happened in the hospital they've figured it out."

Just then Simon walked in. He looked at Ruthie and peter suspiciously. "What are you two doing up here?"

"Well, we weren't doing what you think we were. We were just talking and reading the letters that Dad rote to Peter." Ruthie said indignantly

"Really? What did he say in them?"

"If I recall correctly, they were addressed to Peter and not to you."

"Well, they weren't addressed to you either, but you just said that you read them."

"They were about me, though."

"You're my little sister, so therefore I have a right to know what was in the letters if they were about you, especially if they're about your relationship with a guy." 

Peter stepped in before an all-out sibling war started. "I'll tell everyone in your family what was in them tonight at the family meeting. Nothing in them is a secret. Besides, would your dad really want you fighting over some stupid letters that he wrote?"

Ruthie and Simon looked sheepish. "No, I guess he wouldn't. I'm sorry Ruthie. It was stupid of me to insist on knowing what was in those letters."

"That's okay Simon. I know that you're just worried about me. I'm sorry for fighting with you about you reading them. Peter's right, there's nothing in there that's a secret. Would you like to read them now?"

"No thanks. I'll just wait until the meeting tonight to hear what was in them. You'd better not stay up here alone too long or someone might get suspicious." Simon called back over his shoulder as he headed down the stairs.

"Simon's right, you know. You should probably leave before someone gets suspicious. I don't want your family to think we're doing anything wrong." Ruthie agreed, and left. 


	5. Family Meeting

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I got writer's block. I know this chapter is short, but the next chapter will be longer I promise. I'll try to get it up sooner than I did this one. I've already started it, and I know exactly where I want to go with it, so I should have it up within a week. Thanks for all the reviews! Please continue to R & R.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of 7th Heaven. If I did, would I really be writing on here?

Annie looked around the room. All the family was there, and some of their friends that they had asked to come were at the house for the family meeting. She sighed inwardly. "Well, I guess it's time to start the meeting," she thought to herself. "Thank you all for coming to this meeting tonight. I figured that it would be easiest to tell everyone about the plans for the funeral and for after the funeral this way."

"Mom?" Ruthie asked hesitantly. "What do you mean by 'plans for after the funeral'?"

"Well, as you all know, this house is church property. Your dad and I discussed buying it several times, but never really saw any reason to. Now that he's dead, the house will revert back to the church, and I suppose that Lucy and Kevin or Chandler will get it."

"Mrs. Camden," began Chandler.

"Chandler, call me Annie, please."

"Okay, Annie, I don't need a house this big, and even if I did I wouldn't dream of kicking you out so that I could live here."

"Well, unfortunately, the deacon board decides who the house goes to, so it's not really up to any of us whether or not I get to stay."

"Mom, we already have a house, so, as long as Kevin agrees, if the deacon board decides to give us the house and we can't convince them otherwise, I'd like you to stay in it instead of us." Lucy said.

"Of course I agree. We wouldn't dream of kicking you out of the house you've lived in for so many years, Mom."

"The same goes for me, Annie. You can stay in the house if they give it to me."

"But Chandler, you don't have a house! Where will you stay?"

"I'll find someplace to stay."

"You could stay in the garage apartment. That way you don't have to spend money on rent or on a mortgage."

"Thank you, Annie."

"Well, now that we've talked about what's going to happen after the funeral, let's talk about the funeral."

"Umm, Mom?" I have an announcement to make." Simon said.

"Okay Simon, go ahead."

Simon and Rose stood up, holding hands. "I've asked Rose to marry me, and she said yes!"

Everyone stared at the couple in shock. "Didn't we already go through this once before?" asked Ruthie. She had said what everyone else was thinking.

"I know what happened last time. We weren't ready to get married then. Rose still liked Umberto, and I didn't know what I wanted. We're ready this time, I know we are. We both love each other very much." Simon explained.

"I'm sorry I was such a pain last time. I really do love Simon and all of you as well. It won't turn out like it did last time."

"Did your dad know?" asked Annie.

"Yes." Simon responded. "When Rose and I went in there we told him. He said that he was glad we were back together and gave us his blessing. In fact, we were going to wait to tell all of you, but he insisted that we tell you sooner. He thought that you would need some good news."

"Well, if Eric approved, then I approve too. I really do hope that it works out this time."

"Thanks, Mom. I know it will." Simon went over and gave Annie a hug.

Once everyone had congratulated the couple, Kevin stood up. "Well, since now seems to be the time for announcements, Lucy and I have something to tell all of you as well. Lucy is pregnant."

"What?" exclaimed Annie.

"How far along are you?" asked Mary.

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" asked Rose.

"Congratulations, Lucy!" squealed Sarah.

"Did you tell Dad?" Ruthie inquired.

"Slow down! I can't answer all your questions at once. Mary, I'm three moths along. Rose, we find out whether it's a boy or girl at my next doctor's appointment, which is in one week. Thank you, Sarah. Ruthie, the answer to your question is yes, we did tell Dad. We told him while Kevin and I were saying our goodbyes."

Matt started acting questions then. "Is the baby healthy? What doctor are you seeing? Are they aware of your problems with the other pregnancies? Do they-"

"Matt, stop being a doctor!" Lucy exclaimed. "I know you're worried, but please stop with the questions."

Matt looked embarrassed. "Sorry Luce. I guess it's just second nature for me to ask those questions now that I'm an obstetrician. I won't ask any more, I promise."

No one said anything for a few minutes, so Chandler took the opportunity to make his own announcement. "Umm, I know this is a family meeting, and I'm not really part of the family, but I have something to tell you all as well."

"Chandler, you are a part of the family. You may not be related too us, but everyone here considers you a part of the family. Why else would you be here?" Annie admonished gently.

"Thank you, Annie. Umm, I wanted you all to, umm, be the first to, umm, know." Chandler stammered nervously.

"What Chandler is trying to tell you all," Roxanne said, "is that he asked me to marry him, and I said yes!"

All the women in the room squealed, Lucy loudest of all. "When did this come about? I mean, until right before you came here you hadn't seen each other in several years."

Chandler finally managed to get a complete sentence out without stuttering. "Well, you know we were pretty close to becoming engaged before Roxanne was deployed and I moves away. When we met again, it was kind of like we never really broke up. We just picked up right where we left off."

Everyone offered the couple their congratulations, then Annie asked, "Does anyone else have an announcement to make?"

Matt and Carlos spoke up at the same time. "I do!" Everyone laughed. "You go fist, Matt." said Carlos.

"Well, Sarah and I have been talking, and we've decided to move here. That's part of the reason I was coming to visit, so I could tell you the good news. We've both gotten jobs at the hospital."

"When will you be moving?" asked Annie excitedly.

"We'll start packing as soon as we get home. Our lease expires the beginning of next month, so whenever we're all packed."

Carlos spoke up then. "Well, as long as we're talking about moving, Mary and I have some news to share. We're moving here too!"

"Dad's death really made us think about how much we wanted Charlie and the girls to know all of you." Mary added. "I mean, they do know you, but to them you're their aunts and uncles and grandparents that live in California. We want them to know at least one of our families really well, and since Carlos' family lives in Puerto Rico, we decided to move here."

"When will you move?" Lucy asked.

"Well, we have to find jobs first, but after that we'll be free to move. We talked to the landlord of the place that we rent, and she said that she would be willing to let us out of our lease early." Carlos said.

"All of my children will finally be living on the same side of the country again! Your dad and I often said that we wished it would happen, but I never thought it actually would. Now, does anyone else need to tell us about a wedding, a baby, or moving? Maybe someone could try announcing something else?"

Everyone laughed, but no one said anything. "Okay, well now that that's settled, let's talk about the funeral. Matt and Mary, are your children going to be here for the funeral?"

"I'm flying back as soon as the meeting is over to pick up my boys and Mary's kids." said Matt. "So yes, they'll be here for the funeral."

Annie wrote that down, then went on to discuss other things. When the meeting was over, Kevin and Matt left to go to the airport, and everyone else went back to where they were staying.


	6. The funeral

A/N: Sorry it took so long to post this. I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. In the beginning I thought this would be the hardest chapter to write, but it ended up being the hardest. Thanks for sticking with me through the long period without an update!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character in this story except for the ones from my imagination, nor do I own any part of 7th heaven. If I did, 7th heaven would still be on TV.

The day of Reverend Eric Camden's funeral had arrived. In their own way, each member of the family had been both looking forward to and dreading the funeral. They were looking forward to it because it would provide closure, and dreading it because it would mean that Eric was really dead and wasn't coming back.

Many friends that they hadn't seen for a very long time came to the funeral. Reverend Morgan Hamilton and his wife Patricia, along with their four kids, came. When Annie saw them, she rushed over. "I'm so glad that you came. It means so much to me."

"Annie, we wouldn't have dreamed of not coming once we heard the news. We just wish we could have been here sooner. How are you holding up?" said Patricia.

"Well, I've been better. It's just so hard to believe that he's really gone. WE all knew something like this could happen, but it is still a shock."

"I am so sorry, Annie. Eric was one of the best friends that I ever had. I wish we hadn't grown apart after my family and I moved." Morgan said

"Eric still thought about you a lot. I want you to know that, Morgan."

Annie and the Hamiltons talked for a while longer, and then Annie went and greeted some more guests.

Matt was standing off to the side talking to his grandparents when he saw a familiar face. "Excuse me," he said to his grandparents, and turned and hurried to a beautiful lady that had just walked into the church. When he reached her, he gently touched her on the shoulder. "Heather, I'm so glad that you could come," he signed.

"You helped me through a lot, Matt and I always liked your dad. When I found out about his death, I knew I had to come to the funeral." Heather responded. "How are you doing?"

"It's very hard. I keep thinking that he's going to walk through these doors any minute now and go up to the pulpit. I just can't believe he's gone."

Just then Sarah walked up. "There you are, Matt. I've been looking for you."

"I'm sorry Sarah. Sarah, I'd like you to meet Heather. Heather, this is my wife, Sarah."

"Heather, I'm so happy to finally meet you. Matt's told me a lot about you." Sarah said as Matt signed.

"I am very happy to meet you, Sarah. Matt is very lucky to have a wife like you to help him during this time."

"Thank you, Heather." Sarah turned to Matt. "I have to go feed the twins. I'll be right back."

"Okay." Matt leaned down to give his wife a kiss.

After Sarah had left, Matt went to talk to other friends he hadn't seen in a while. Pretty soon the pianist started playing and everyone mad their way into the auditorium and sat down. Chandler went up and stood behind the pulpit, and Rabbi Glass sat down on the platform

"We're here today," started Chandler, "not to mourn the death of Reverend Eric Camden, but to celebrate it. Believe me, I know how easy it can be to become depressed and think only about his death during this time, but I want to challenge you to think about his life instead. That's what Eric would have wanted, and if you're here today then you know that. He would want us to think about what a fulfilled life he lived. I know how hard it is to not mourn. I know that because this man," he motioned to where Eric lay in the coffin, "was a very good friend of mine. When I first heard that he was dying, I was angry. I couldn't understand why God would want to take someone that so many people loved and respected, and let him die. He has a loving and devoted wife, and seven children, three of them not yet out of the house. He has two son-in-laws, and two daughter-in-laws who love him like he was their own father. He has six beautiful grandchildren, a congregation that adores him, and many, many friends that love him. After his death, I thought about it, and I think now I know why. Eric touched many lives throughout the years and I think God took him to touch even more lives. I'm sure that sounds strange to many of you, but look around. Go ahead; look at the person beside you, in front of you, behind you. This building is packed full of people that Eric touched. I think God wanted to challenge us to touch others as well. I just can't think of any other reason why God would take him. Lucy Kinkirk has asked me if she could say a few words, so, Lucy, go ahead."

Lucy walked up to the platform and Chandler gave her a hug before she stepped into the pulpit. "Chandler, thank you so much for everything that you just said. As many of you know, when I first found out about my dad's heart, I was angry. I felt that God was taking away everything I loved. First he took my twins, now he was going to take my dad. I couldn't understand why. Then I realized, 'Who am I to question God?' I mean, he knows so much better than I do. I realized that rather than be angry, I should think of what I could do to help people remember Dad. As I thought about it, I realized just how many people he'd touched, and I decided that he'd want to be remembered as the person that always helped. If I help half as many people as my dad did, I would be more than happy. I challenge you to remember him that way as well."

After Lucy finished, Rabbi Glass stepped up to the pulpit. "Wow," he said. "I don't know what I can say after hearing both Chandler and Lucy. I'm afraid that anything I say can't even come close to how well they verbalized what Eric would want, so I'll just leave you with this today. Next time something comes your way, and you want to ask God 'why?', ask Him 'what are you trying to teach me?' instead. You'll get a lot more satisfaction and a lot less sorrow that way."

When the Rabbi was done, Chandler stepped back up to the pulpit. " I would like to give all of you a chance to share how Eric touched your life or a special memory that you have about him."

Morgan Hamilton was the first to stand up and say something. "Several years ago, my church here in Glen Oak was burnt down. When Eric heard about it, he offered me and my family a place to stay, and welcomed my congregation into his own. I was hesitant at first. I didn't want the same thing that happened to my church to happen to his just because he helped us. I told him this, and he said that he didn't care what others would say or do. All he cared about was making sure that we were taken care of. He donated money to help rebuild, and he and his family were at the service we held on the site where the church had stood. He helped Patricia and me when we were having problems, and his house was always open to my family. In the last few years, we grew apart, but Eric was the best friend a person could ask for, and I'm going to miss him very much. Annie, you and your family are in mine and my family's thoughts and prayers."

After Morgan sat down, Robbie stood up. "Reverend Camden took me in as a complete stranger. The only thing he knew about me was that I was homeless, and I was dating his daughter. He didn't care that he didn't know me, he welcomed me into his house anyway. He and his family became like my own family. I really looked up to Reverend Camden. He was there any time that I needed to talk to him, and he was a great role model."

The next person to stand up was a stranger to most people in the room. "I know that most of you probably have no idea who I am, or why I'm here. My name is Joseph Morgan. My son's name was Sgt. Joe Morgan. He was a pen pal of Ruthie's before he died. He was over in Iraq when his helicopter crashed, and he was killed. Reverend Camden and his family held a memorial service for him here at the church. It meant so much to me that they would do that for someone that they knew only through reading the letters he wrote to Ruthie. I was torn up over my son's death, so Reverend Camden talked to me and helped me come to terms with it. My marriage was about ready to fall apart because of Joe's death, but because of talking with Reverend Camden, my wife and I are still happily marries. Ruthie, I'm praying for you and your family. I hope that rather than thinking about your loss, you'll think about all the good times you had together. That's what really helped us."

Ben was next. "The first time I met Reverend Camden, he was coming down the stairs late at night with a baseball bat, and he wasn't going to play ball. Everyone laughed. When the laughter subsided, Ben continued. "Reverend Camden was a man who would do anything to protect his family. He became a good friend of mine, and IK always enjoyed spending time with him. I'm going to miss him very much."

The next person was Lou Dalton, Eric's former deacon. "Eric was the best pastor a person could ask for. He cared very much about everyone in his church. He loved his job, and everyone in this church. Eric was a man of great patience. I was in shock when Annie first called me with news of his death. I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it. Eric was a very good friend to me, and this world has lost a great man."

After Lou, Gladys Bink stood up. "Reverend Camden was a very good Reverend. He always made sure that I was taken care of, even though I didn't want it. He tricked me into letting Chandler live with me so that he could help me around the house. After they told me I had cancer, he just butted into my business even more. Even though, I've always been stubborn and acted like I didn't want his help, I really did like it. I'm going to miss telling him to stay out of my business." Everyone smiled at the typical Mrs. Bink speech.

By now almost everyone had tear in their eyes or already crying. Chandler started to get up to end the time of sharing memories, but Annie caught his eye and gave him a shake of her head. He realized as he sat back down, that although it was hard, it was helpful to everyone to share their memories of Eric and hear others.

Sergeant Michaels stood up next. "When I got the call to respond to the scene of an accident just a few days ago, I never would have dreamed that when I arrived at the scene I would find Reverend Camden. When I had to go and tell Annie that Eric was being taken to the hospital and was in critical condition, it was the first time that I actually hated my job. As I waited for the door to be answered, I thought about all the other times I had done this. It was so much harder this time, not only because it was someone I knew, but because Eric would occasionally accompany me on these calls. I realized how much it helped to have him there with me at those times. In the hours immediately after telling the Camdens, I struggled with whether or not I wanted to be a policeman any more. I have seen friend injured and killed in the line of duty. I especially hated having to notify family member that their loved one had been taken to the hospital, or that they were dead. Then I realized how many people I've helped over the years by being a police officer. Eric loved to help people, so I decided that the best way I could honor his memory was by helping others."

To everyone's surprise, the next person to stand up was Annie. "I want to thank you all for coming. Eric loved all of you very much. I know that each of you have special memories of him, and I hope that you'll cherish them. I have so many special memories that I couldn't even begin to pick one to share with you. Thank you for being such good friends." The last few sentences were said through tears. After Annie sat back down, Sam, who was sitting on one side of Annie, and David, who was sitting on the other side, leaned over and gave her a hug and the rest of the family smiled at her through their tears, gave her a pet, or showed their encouragement in some other way.

Jane stood up next. "Reverend Camden took me in when I was a complete stranger. T-Bone, Margaret, and I were living in my car, and Reverend Camden invited us to stay with him. I have to admit, at first I was a little wary. It's not every day that someone invites a complete stranger, much less a homeless one, into their house to stay. When Reverend Camden found out why I had been living in my car, he helped me work things out with my husband. He never made me feel like the outsider that I was, and he became like a father to me. I'm going to miss him very much."

After Jane sat down, Chandler waited a bit longer, and then, when no one else stood up, he stepped back up to the pulpit. "Thank you all for the memories that you shared. I knew that Reverend Camden helped a lot of people, but I guess I never realized just how many until I looked around the auditorium and saw that it was overflowing with people. While you were all sharing your memories, I got to hear exactly how Reverend Camden touched some of you that I have just met, and others that I have known for a while."

The funeral service ended, and people slowly trickled out of the auditorium to drive to the cemetery for the graveside service. After the graveside service was over, many people came up to the Camdens and offered their condolences.

"Simon?" Simon turned around at the sound of a quiet voice from behind him.

"Cecilia? Thank you so much for coming."

"Simon, I wouldn't have been able to stay away. Your dad meant a lot to me."

"He meant a lot to everyone. I just can't believe he's gone. I mean, one day he's talking to me on the phone, the next he's laying in a hospital be telling me goodbye, and just a few days later he's dead. I don't think that it's totally hit me yet. I just keep thinking that he's going to walk through the door into our house again." Simon was too choked up with tears to go on.

Cecilia laid a hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry, Simon. I can't even imagine what it feels like to lose your dad." Just then Rose walked up, causing Cecilia to quickly drop her hand back down.

Simon made the introductions. "Rose, I'd like you to meet Cecilia. Cecilia, this is Rose, my fiancée."

"I've heard a lot about you, Cecilia." said Rose. After noticing that Cecilia looked embarrassed, Rose quickly said, "Don't worry. It was nothing bad. All of the Camdens adored, especially Sam and David. I think they miss you the most."

"They were always such sweet little kids. I loved them like they were my own brothers, and still do. I see them around town with Mrs. Camden every once in a while."

Simon looked pleased that Cecilia and Rose had hit it off so well. "Well, if you ladies will excuse me, I need to go check on Mom and see how she's holding up." Both Cecilia and Rose gave a slight nod of their head and continued talking as Simon walked away.

Ruthie was watching all of this with the barest shadow of a smile on her face when someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Ruthie?"

Ruthie turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. It was Caitlyn's mom and dad. Caitlyn was a girl she had met while riding horses. She'd had cystic fibrosis, and had died just three years ago. She hadn't seen Caitlyn's parents since the funeral.

"Thank you for coming. It really means a lot to me."

"You were one of the best friends our daughter ever had, and you were at her funeral. Besides that, your dad helped us get through a rough spot after her death, so the least we could do is show our support for your family by coming to the funeral." replied Caitlyn's mom.

"How are you doing? I know the third anniversary of her death just passed?"

"We're holding up okay, but we should be the ones asking you that question, not vice versa." Caitlyn's dad reprimanded.

"I still can't believe he's gone. I keep thinking that he's just away on a trip, and pretty soon he'll come home and everything will be okay again. I just can't believe that my dad is dead." Ruthie stated all of this as if she were a total stranger to Eric, not breaking down into tears or showing any display of emotion. Rather, she spoke in almost a monotone. Caitlyn's parents looked at each other, concerned.

"Are you okay, Ruthie?" Caitlyn's mom asked gently.

"I'm fine. I've got to get back to my family now, but it was nice to see you again."

Mary was standing by Annie and Carlos, but had been keeping a close watch on Ruthie. She was concerned because Ruthie hadn't cried at all since they left the hospital after Eric's death. Just when she was about to go talk to Ruthie, she heard someone call her name.

"Wilson? I didn't know you were going to be here. I didn't even know that anyone had told you about my dad's death." Mary said, surprised.

'"Lucy called me. She thought that I'd want to know, seeing as how we dated for so long."

"I'm glad you were able to come. Is Billy here?"

"No, unfortunately he had to stay in New York, with school being in session and all. I got remarried almost four years ago now. Her name is Amy, and Billy gets along great with her. At first, he wasn't too sure of her and he wanted you to come and babysit him again, but he grew to like her pretty quickly."

"I'm happy for you, Wilson, I really am. As a matter of fact, I married too. Carlos," Mary said, turning to her husband, "this is Wilson West. I think I've told you about him before. He and I dated for quite a few years."

"Yes, I do recall you talking about him. I'm pleased to meet you, Wilson. I just wish it could be under better circumstances." Carlos said, shaking Wilson's hand.

"So do I. Do you two have any children?"

"Yes, we have one son, Charlie, and twin daughters, Rose and Hannah." responded Mary.

Mary, Carlos, and Wilson continued talking until Wilson said that it was time for him to leave. After Wilson had left, Mary turned to Carlos. "I'm going to see if I can find Ruthie. I'm kind of worried about her."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, that's okay. I think she'll open up more if it's just me."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'll be around if you need me." Carlos leaned over and gave Mary a peck on the cheek.

Mary looked around for Ruthie and finally spotted her with Kevin. She started to walk over to them, but stopped when she saw that they were arguing about something.

"Ruthie, you need to just let it out. It's not going to help you if you keep your emotions all bottled up inside." Kevin said patiently.

"Well it's not going to help to let them all out, either. I did that at the hospital and look what happened. Nothing! Absolutely nothing! It didn't bring Dad back, and it didn't let me take back everything I said that I wish I hadn't; all it did was make me miss him even more. Before now, he's always been there for me when I was sad or upset about something. Now he's not here." Ruthie was almost yelling at this point. "All I want is to have my dad back. Crying can't make that happen, so why would I want to do that? I miss him so much." With that Ruthie finally broke down and started crying.

Kevin pulled her into a hug. "Ruthie, you may not have your dad anymore physically, but you know that as long as he's on your mind he's still with you in spirit. You have Peter now, too. I know for a fact that he cares deeply for you and that he loves you and wants more than anything to be there for you right now. Do you have any idea how hard it is for him to watch you keep all your emotions bottled you inside of you? He wants to help you, but he can't if you won't let him."

"I've treated him pretty badly these last few days, haven't I?"

"That doesn't matter, Ruthie. He still loves you."

"Why would he after the way I treated him? Anyways, how do you know that?"

"Because he's standing right over there watching you looking like all he wants to do right now is give you a hug and tell you everything's going to be okay, but he doesn't want you to push him away again."

Ruthie looked in the direction Kevin was pointing and saw the same thing he did. "Kevin, do you mind if I go talk to him now?"

Kevin smiled. "What are you waiting for?"

Ruthie started over towards Peter, then paused and turned back towards Kevin.

"Kevin?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, I have a feeling if you don't go over there he's going to come over here and get you."

Ruthie smiled and started walking towards Peter again. Once they has started talking, Mary went over to Kevin.

"I never would have been able to get Ruthie to open up to me like that, and I don't think anyone else would have been able to get her to open up like that, except Peter and maybe Simon or Matt." Mary exclaimed.

"Well, maybe it's just an older brother thing. She's come to me with problems before, so I knew that she'd trust me. I'm just glad she opened up to someone."

"I am too. It was hard to see her hold all of her emotions and pain inside of her."

While Kevin and Mary talked, Ruthie went over to where Peter stood. "Peter, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Peter looked concerned. "Sure. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to talk."

Peter and Ruthie walked a short ways away. "Peter, I'm sorry about how I've been treating you. I've kind of pushed you away during the last few days. I didn't mean to, it was just so hard…"

"I know, honey, I know. It's okay. I'm just glad that you're not mad at me. For a while there I thought maybe I'd done something to make you mad."

"No. It was just me being stupid."

"Ruthie, you had just lost your dad. I didn't expect you to act normal after what you had just gone through. You were right there when Sergeant Michaels told your mom, and you're the one that had to make all the phone calls to tell everyone, as well as tell the twins. You have to stay strong for the twins so that they don't get scared. Then, you're at the hospital for less than twenty-four hours, and he dies. No one should have to go through that, Ruthie. You've gone through more in the last few days than most people go through in a lifetime."

"Thank you for understanding, Peter. I was so afraid you'd be mad at me."

"I couldn't be mad at you for acting as normal as can be expected after what you went though." Peter put his arm around Ruthie, and they walked over to where her family was standing and talking. Everyone who wasn't family had left by this time.

When Annie noticed Peter and Ruthie walking towards them, she quietly slipped away and went to meet them. "Is everything okay?"

Peter looked to Ruthie for the answer.

"Yeah, Mom, everything's okay." Ruthie answered.

Annie didn't look convinced.

"Everything really is okay, Mom. I promise." Ruthie said. The she added, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, Ruthie, I think I'll be okay. It's just hard."

"I know, Mom. But just remember that Dad wouldn't want us moping around. He'd want us to get on with our lives."

"You're right. What caused this sudden change in attitude?"

"A certain nosey brother-in-law of mine got involved."

"Kevin?" guessed Annie.

Ruthie nodded. "He gave me a good talking to and made me come to my senses and let it all out."

"I'm glad. I didn't want to get involved because I figured you had every right to act the way you were, but I guess Kevin had the right idea."

"Yeah, I guess he did. Come on, Mom, let's go home."

Ruthie turned to where Peter had been standing, but to her surprise he was no longer there. He had slipped away at the beginning of Annie and Ruthie's conversation, sensing the need for privacy between mother and daughter. Ruthie looked around, finally spotting him standing with her family. Annie and Ruthie walked over.

"Are you all ready to go home?" asked Annie.

Everyone said that they were, so they all headed to their vehicles, got in, and drove back to the Camden's house.

A/N: This is the last chapter dealing with the period immediately after Eric's death. My next chapters will focus on Mat and Sarah's move, Mary and Carlos' move, Simon and Rose's wedding, Ruthie and Peter's engagement, etc. As of right now I plan to make at least one chapter for each kid as well as one for Annie.


	7. Matt

A/N: I'm so sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up. I was having computer problems, but I think I've gotten them worked out now. I leave for college in August, so I'm going to try to get this story done before then. Please R&R!!

Disclaimer: I do not own 7th heaven or any of the characters in this story. I did, however make up the twins names, as it was never mentioned on tehe show what their names were.

"Well, we're finally home." said Matt. Sarah, sitting in the passenger seat of their car, nodded in agreement. They were sitting in the driveway of their new home in Glen Oak.

"Well, I suppose we should probably go inside and start unpacking." Sarah sighed. The moving van had arrived two days before. Annie had met them at the house to let them in. Sarah was not looking forward to unpacking after their long drive from New York.

"We could just stay in a hotel tonight." Matt suggested.

"No, I'm tired of sleeping in hotels. I want to sleep in my own bed in my own home tonight, even if it does mean unpacking before we can go to bed."

"Yeah, I guess I feel the same way. I just thought that maybe you would want to get a good nights sleep before tackling all those boxes." As he was speaking, Matt got out and went to the rear door on the driver's side to get Keller, one of their twin boys, out of his car seat. Sarah did the same with Liam, the other twin, on the other side of the car. Then, each one carrying a twin, they walked up to the door. Matt unlocked it, and then turned to Sarah. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"I've been ready." replied Sarah.

Matt walked inside first. He stopped suddenly, nearly causing Sarah to run into him.

"Matt, why in the world did you stop?" Sarah asked, annoyed.

"Sarah, look." Matt stepped to the side, letting Sarah see the inside of their new home for the first time. She gasped in surprise. Rather than boxes and unassembled furniture sitting everywhere like they had expected to see, their living room furniture was neatly arranged, and there were no boxes in sight. There was even an area set up where the boys could play.

Matt and Sarah set the boys down in the play area, and, hand in hand, walked through the rest of the house. In every room it was the same thing. No boxes anywhere in sight and all the furniture assembled and neatly arranged. When they entered the last room, the kitchen, they got another surprise. Dinner was sitting on top of the oven, already cooked, and still hot. There was also a note sitting on the kitchen table. It read:

_Dear Matt and Sarah,_

_We hope you don't mind us unpacking your stuff. Feel free to move anything if you don't like where it's at. We just figured that you would be tired when you got here and wouldn't feel like unpacking. We'll see you tomorrow!_

_Love,_

_Annie, Kevin, Lucy, Simon, Rose,_

_and Sam and David_

"Did I ever tell you how sweet your family is?" asked Sarah.

"I'm sure you have. I wasn't expecting this at all, though. Not that I mind one bit, of course."

Sarah and Matt put the boys, who were acting very sleepy, in their cribs, then went outside to unpack the car.

Once they got back inside, they dumped everything in the living room and went to bed. When they woke up the next morning, the twins were still sleeping, so they decided until they woke up to go see Annie and the others rather than wake the twins up and risk them being crabby. Sarah made coffee and then sat down with Matt at the kitchen table. She was concerned because Matt had been pretty quite ever since they had gotten close to Glenn Oak. "Matt, are you okay?" she asked, laying a hand on his arm.

Matt looked up. "I'm not sure. It just all feels so weird, knowing that I'll never see my dad again even though I finally live in Glenn Oak again. I used to dream about moving back to Glen Oak and spending time with my parents and siblings. I used to think about attending church and listening to my dad preach. Now that will never happen again. I only wish I'd appreciated it more when I had a chance. I mean, I knew that his heart was in bad shape. Even after I found out he was dying I didn't visit as often as I should have."

"Matt, you know as well as I do that you visited as often as you could, between school and work and me and the twins. Your father knew that too. He wouldn't have wanted you to act like this, Matt. He would want you to enjoy spending time with your mom and siblings."

"You're right, Sarah. I'm sorry for how I've been moping around. It's definitely not going to help my mom and siblings get over his death, either. I know that I'm out of the house and married now, and almost everyone else is too, but I still feel responsible for them. I don't want to see them hurt anymore than they have to."

Just then the twins started crying. Sarah smiled. "Come on, Matt. We're being paged." Together they walked into their sons' room.

After they had fed the twins and themselves, Matt, Sarah, and the twins walked over to the Camden's house, which was only a block away. When they reached the house, Matt stopped. "It hasn't changed. I don't know why I thought it would. I mean, we just saw it a few months ago at the funeral." He paused. "Well, actually, I guess it has changed, at least from when I was growing up in it. Dad's not here, Mary and Lucy are married, Simon is engaged, Ruthie is probably not to far off from getting engaged, and the twins are in school now."

"Matt," Sarah said, resting a hand on his arm, "the house hasn't changed, only the people that lived in it. In most cases, it's been a change for the better. You got married, then Lucy got married, then Mary got married and had a baby, Lucy had a baby, Simon went off to college, got engaged, and almost got married, the two of us had twins, Mary had twins, Simon got engaged again, Ruthie found someone she wants to marry, we moved back here, and Mary's moving back here. See, most of the stuff that has changed is for the better. Now, come on, let's go inside. If I know your mom, as soon as she sees us out here she's going to come flying out of that house."

Matt laughed. "You're right." He looked down at his sons. "Let's go see Grandma." They walked up to the house, opened the door, and went inside.

"Mom, we're here!" called Matt.

Annie came around the corner. "Matt! Sarah! I'm so glad to see you! I can't believe that you're finally just around the corner from me. How are you? How was your trip? How are my grandsons?" Annie knelt down to give Keller and Liam hugs and kisses.

"Hi, Mom. We're doing fine. The trip was very long and tiring, but well worth it just to be living here in Glenn Oak again." Matt said. Once Annie stood back up, he gave her a hug. "Where is everyone?"

"Well, let's see. The twins are out back playing ball, Ruthie's out back with Peter watching them, and Simon and Rose are over at Kevin and Lucy's. They said that they'd come over a bit later. They didn't want to overwhelm the two of you."

Just then the back door opened. Sam and David came running in. "Mom, Mom! Guess what?" asked David as he came running towards the front door.

"What?" asked Annie.

"We beat Peter and Ruthie!" Sam finished. "Oh, hi Matt, hi Sarah. When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago." Matt replied leaning down to give his brothers hugs. "You really beat Peter and Ruthie?"

"Yep, they sure did." Matt looked up to see Ruthie coming towards him. "Hi, Matt!" She gave him a hug. "I was wondering when you two were going to get here."

"Hey, Ruthie. I didn't realize you missed your big brother so much."

"I didn't. I just missed Sarah and the boys." she replied, grinning. "Hi, Sarah!"

"Hi, Ruthie. I think you just hurt his feelings," Sarah laughed.

Ruthie laughed as she gave Sarah a hug. "He's used to it, right Matt?"

Matt grinned. "She's right."

"Liam, Keller, do you two want to come play with Aunt Ruthie?" Ruthie asked, leaning down to give her nephews a hug.

"Ruthie, just don't spoil them, okay?" Matt said.

"But that's want Aunt Ruthie's are for. Just ask Savannah." Ruthie grinned as she picked the twins up.

"Ruthie, you could have helped put stuff away, you know. You're as bad as your brothers, leaving me to do all the work." Peter complained good naturedly as walked in. "Oh, hi, Matt, hi, Sarah. I didn't know you guys were here yet."

"We just got here a little while ago." Matt replied shaking Peter's hand. 'You know, I'm glad you're here. I've been wanting to talk to you."

Annie, Sarah, and Ruthie exchanged looks and started towards the kitchen. They were almost there when the door opened and in walked Kevin, Lucy, Savannah, Simon, and Rose.

"Matt!" Lucy squealed.

"Hey Luce." Matt gave her a hug. I thought Mom said you guys weren't coming over until later?"

"Well, we weren't going to, but Lucy couldn't wait any longer." Kevin replied, for by this time, Lucy was already busy talking to Sarah and seeing her nephews.

"We decided to go ahead and come over now rather than have Lucy bug us for the next few hours." Simon said, coming forward to give Matt a hug. "You know how annoying she can get."

Matt laughed. "I know all too well. I haven't been gone that long."

"Why don't all of you men go into the living room and catch up while all of us women fix the meal?" suggested Annie. "The study is available if you still want to have that talk with Peter, Matt."

After Annie, Sarah, Lucy, Rose, and Ruthie went into the kitchen, taking the children with them, Kevin spoke up. "You know, I've been wanting to have a talk with Peter, too. Why don't we all go into the study and talk. I'm sure there are a few things Simon would like to ask you too, right, Simon?"

"Yep."

Peter sighed. "Okay, let's get this over with."

Once they were in the study, Kevin asked the first question. "How long have you been in love with Ruthie?"

"Since the first day I met her." Peter replied

"Really? That long?" Simon asked, surprised. "I never guessed."

"Well, she never really thought of me as anything except a really good friend. That's why I never asked her out, because she was happy with just being friends. By the time I had worked up enough courage to ask her to go out with me, she was obsessing over Martin, and I knew she would never agree to go on a date with me. That's part of the reason I really didn't mind it when Mom and I moved, because it meant that I wouldn't have to watch the girl I loved throw herself at another man, one I knew would break her heart."

"Are you sure that you really love her. I mean, have you really gone out with anyone else? I know that Ruthie's the first girl you ever really liked, so how do you know that it's really love?" Matt asked that question.

"After Mom and I moved, I went out with quite a few girls. I, too, thought that maybe it was just a crush or puppy love, but I can honestly say that without a doubt it is true love. I know there we're both young, and you probably all think that we can't possibly know that it's true love at this age, but I believe we can. Reverend Camden obviously thought so, too, because he was the one instrumental in bringing us together."

"He was? I mean, I know that he gave Ruthie your number, but I didn't know that he really did anything else to bring you two together." Matt said.

"He told Ruthie that if he had to pick a husband for her, he would have picked me. He also wrote me a couple of letters. I was going to tell everyone about them at the family meeting, but because there were so many other announcements made at that meeting, I really didn't want to overwhelm everyone with them. Besides, compared to the knew that Matt and Mary were moving back here, Simon and Rose were engaged, Kevin and Lucy were pregnant, and Chandler and Roxanne were engaged, it didn't really seem important at the time."

"I knew about them." Simon said. "I walked in on Peter and Ruthie right after they had both read them. I asked what was in them, and they said that they'd share it at the family meeting. I guess I kind of forgot about them with all the excitement, though. What was in the letters, Peter?"

Peter pulled the letters out of his pocket, and read them in the same order that he had. When he was finished, everyone was quiet. Finally, Kevin broke the silence. "So, when are you two going on your first date?"

"You mean that you approve of us as a couple?" Peter asked.

"I do. Dad did, and he knew you better than me, so if he thinks your right for Ruthie, then you must be." Kevin replied. "I know that Lucy would agree with me, and I'm sure that if you asked here, Mom would tell you that Dad talked it over with her before he wrote the letters, and she agrees, too."

"What about you, Matt? Do you approve of me going out with Ruthie? I won't go lout with her if I don't have everyone's approval."

"Yes, you have my approval. I never liked any of the other guys that Ruthie went out with. I didn't think any of them were good enough for her. When I found out that Martin had broken my little sister's heart, I wanted to kill him. I wasn't really around much when you loved here, but if Dad approved of you, and thought that you wouldn't break Ruthie's heart, then I do, too."

"Simon?"

"I always hoped that you two would get together. I do have to warn you, though. If you ever break my sister's heart, you will regret it? Understand?"

"I wouldn't dream of hurting Ruthie. I love her too much."

Meanwhile, in the kitchen the girls were speculating on what their husbands and boyfriends were talking about.

"There probably grilling him about when he first loved you, why he thinks he's good enough for you, stuff like that. Dad, Matt, and Simon did that to Kevin when we got engaged."

"But we're not engaged. Were just going out on one date. Of course, we plan on going out on many more dates, but it's not like we're going to get engaged tomorrow."

"You're the youngest girl, Ruthie. Matt always been protective of you, being the oldest, and you and Simon have always been extremely close, so he's obviously going to be protective of you, too. Kevin was the one who helped pick up the pieces after Martin broke your heart, and he loves you very much, too, so he's obviously going to be protective of you. It just shows how much you're loved."

"Mom's right," said Sarah. "You should have seen Matt when he heard that Martin had broken your heart. He wanted to jump on a plane and come here to Glenn Oak to beat him up. He probably would have, too, if I hadn't stopped him."

Just then the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Annie said. When she opened the door, Lou Dalton and the other deacons were standing there, along with Chandler.

"Annie? Could we come in? There some matters that we need to discuss." Lou said.

"Certainly. Kevin, Matt, Simon, and Peter are in the study, but we can go into the living room and talk."

"Is Lucy here? What we're going to discuss really concerns her, too."

"Yes, she is. Go ahead and sit down and I'll go get her." Annie returned to the kitchen. "Lucy? Chandler and the deacons are here. There are some things that they want to talk to us about."


	8. Mary

A/N: I hope you like this chapter. It was very easy to right. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: I do not own 7th heaven. The names of Matt and Mary's twins are from my own imagination, so if they bear any resemblence to names that you may have chosen for them in your story, it is coincidence.

* * *

"Well, that's the last of it." Ruthie said as she set the last picture frame on the table. "Everything's unpacked now except for what Mary and Carlos have with them." the Camdens and Kinkirks were over at Mary and Carlos' new house, unpacking for them just like they had for Matt and Sarah. "Matt, you didn't mention anything about this when you talked to Mary the other night, did you? I want her and Carlos to be just as surprised as you and Sarah were."

"Of course I didn't say anything. Besides, if you'll remember, I'm not the one who talked the most as a kid. If I remember correctly, that would be you, Ruthie."

Ruthie grinned. "That may be true, but I did keep secret the fact that you and Sarah got married on your first date. I believe you're the one that finally ended up telling Mom and Dad."

"Yeah, but it was my secret to tell, so it's not like I was being a blabbermouth."

"You two sound just like Sam and David when there fighting," said Annie, walking up. "I thought I could depend on at least two of my children to act their age."

Matt and Ruthie looked at each other and grinned. "Sorry." they said in unison.

Just then Peter walked up. "What kind of trouble have you been getting into now, Ruthie Camden?"

Ruthie put on an innocent face. "What makes you think I'm getting into trouble, Peter?"

He put his arm around her. "Because I know you too well, honey."

Ruthie blushed. She and Peter had been officially dating for almost three months now, and they were both very happy. "Matt and I were just having a conversation, that's all."

"So in other words, you two were arguing."

"Not exactly arguing. We weren't mad at each other or anything; I was just trying to prove to Matt that I could keep a secret."

"Well, I'm not so sure you can. Matt, did you know that she told me that you and Sarah got married on your first date. She told me this the night that Kevin and Lucy got engaged."

"Oh, really? That's very interesting. I thought you never told anyone, Ruthie."

Ruthie glared at Peter. "I said that I didn't tell anyone in the family. I never said that I never told anyone at all."

"So how many other people knew?"

"No one. Just Peter. I promise."

Kevin and Lucy came over just then. Lucy was almost eight months by now. "We just got the casserole out of the oven. We'd better get out of here now. Carlos and Mary should be here any time now."

Together they all walked back to the Camden's house, where Sarah and Rose were watching all the kids. "How was she?" asked Lucy, picking up Savannah.

"She was wonderful, as always." replied Rose. "But are you sure you should be picking her up? You look like you're about ready to have that baby at any time now."

"I'm fine, Rose. I wouldn't mind if this little one made her appearance soon. I'm always so tired. I hardly have enough energy to play with Savannah when I get home at nights now."

"When is your last Sunday preaching before you have the baby?" asked Sarah.

"I plan on preaching right up until I have this baby."

"You better watch it, Luce, or you'll end up having the baby at the church after you go into labor during your sermon." Kevin said.

"Well, if I do, at least Matt will be there to deliver this baby just like he did Savannah."

"Hey now, do I get a say in this? I mean, I didn't mind delivering my niece, but it was kind of awkward. Besides, I'd rather this niece be born in a hospital. An elevator was bad enough, I don't want to have to deliver this one at the church." said Matt.

"Lucy, will you run over to the garage apartment and ask Chandler if he wants to come over for dinner?" Annie called from the kitchen.

"Sure, Mom. But I think he has Roxanne over tonight."

"Then tell them that she's welcome to come over too."

"I know for a fact that Roxanne can't cook any better than Chandler can, so I doubt they'll refuse the invitation." said Kevin.

When the deacons and Chandler had come over to talk to Annie and Lucy the first day Matt and Sarah had come over after moving, they had talked about who would get the house. Lou and the other deacons had wanted to give the house to Kevin and Lucy, but Lucy had insisted that she liked her house and didn't want to move. Then they suggested giving the house to Chandler. He also refused, and said that he wanted Annie to be able to stay in the house. After a few hours, they all came to an agreement. Annie would live in the house, and Chandler and Roxanne would live in the garage apartment. The deacons had wanted Annie to pay rent for living there, but Chandler was able to talk them out of it. The only condition was that if Chandler ever moved, Annie would have to either buy the parsonage or pay rent.

"Chandler?" Lucy called, knocking on the door to the apartment.

"Hi Lucy. Did you need something?" Chandler asked when he opened the door.

"Mom wanted to know if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight."

"I don't know, Lucy. Roxanne is over here now, and aren't Mary and Carlos supposed to get arrive tonight, aren't they?"

"Mom said that it would be fine if Roxanne came over too, and Carlos and Mary aren't coming over until after dinner, if they come over at all tonight."

"I don't know, Lucy. I'm sure that all of your other siblings are over there. I don't want to impose on your mom."

"Chandler, Mom loves to have you over. She doesn't mind cooking for big groups. I mean, she's been doing it for a long time now. She's been cooking for at least nine people ever since the twins were born. Besides, I know for a fact that neither you nor Roxanne can cook, so Mom's cooking will be so much better than anything else you could have for supper."

"Okay, okay. We'll come over. Let me go tell Roxanne, and then we'll be over."

When Lucy got back to the house, Sam and David came running towards her. "Lucy, Lucy, Mary and Carlos are here!!"

"What? They weren't supposed to come over until after supper! Are you two teasing me?"

"No, there not. We're here, Lucy!" said Mary, walking towards her sister and giving her a hug. "Look at you! You're huge! You look like you could pop at any second."

"I wouldn't talk if I were you, Mary. I saw plenty of pictures of you when you were pregnant with the twins. You were bigger than I am."

"Yeah, but I had an excuse. I was having twins. You're not." Mary regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. "I'm sorry, Luce. I didn't think before I spoke."

"Mary, it's okay. I'm okay with it now. I mean, yeah, I still wish I hadn't lost the twins, but I'm not going to get upset over the fact that I don't have twins and you and Matt do. I have Savannah, and now I'll have this baby too."

Just then Chandler and Roxanne walked up. "Lucy, I thought you said Mary and Carlos weren't coming over until after dinner?" Chandler asked, confused.

"Well, I thought that's what she said. Why did you come over now, anyway?" The last question was addressed to Mary.

"Well, we decided to surprise everyone. We didn't feel like unpacking everything right now anyway, so Carlos suggested that we come over here and then go home and get a good night's sleep, and unpack in the morning."

"Where is Carlos? And where are your kids?" Lucy looked around, but didn't see anyone.

"Carlos dropped me off here so I could see all of you without having to worry about keeping an eye on the kids. He, Charlie, and the girls are going to drop everything off at our house and then come right over." Mary looked at her watch. "That was almost ten minutes ago, so he should be back any time now. We only had a couple of boxes and four suitcases with us. Everything else we sent ahead in the moving van."

As soon as Mary finished speaking, Carlos, Charlie, and the twins came walking up. "Hi, babe." he said giving Mary a kiss. "Hi, Lucy." He leaned over and gave her a hug.

'Hi Carlos. You're not going to say anything about how huge I am? It seems like everyone else has."

Carlos laughed. "No, I learned my lesson about that when Mary was pregnant with the twins. She broke into tears anytime I said something about size."

Mary rolled her eyes and laughed. "I was an emotional wreck during the pregnancy. I cried at the drop of a hat."

Roxanne elbowed Chandler. "See what you have to look forward to when we start a family."

Chandler blushed. "Let's just worry about getting married first. Come on, let's head inside and let Lucy greet her nieces and nephew without an audience."

Carlos got Charlie out of the triple stroller he had brought the kids over in. He screamed, "Aunt Lucy!" and ran up to Lucy and gave her a big hug.

"Hey, kiddo. I think you've grown since I saw you last. Have you been helping Mommy and Daddy with Ava and Erica?"

"He sure has," said Carlos, handing Lucy Ava while Mary held Erica. "He's been a big help."

"There you are. I wondered what was taking you so long." Lucy turned around to see Kevin walking towards her. "Hi Carlos, Hi Mary. When did you get here?"

"Hi Kevin. I got here about ten minutes ago, and Carlos and the kids just got here after dropping everything off at the house." Mary replied. "I'm sure by now Sam and David have told everyone else that I'm here, so I'd better get inside and say hi to everyone."

"Wait a minute; you haven't seen anyone but me yet?" Lucy asked, surprised.

"No, I was waiting for Carlos and the kids to get here. I didn't want to get swamped by myself." She grabbed Charlie's hand and took Ava from Lucy. "Come on; let's go see Grandma and all your aunts and uncles."

As Mary went inside, Carlos turned to Lucy and Kevin and said, "Thank you so much for unpacking everything for us. That was one thing I definitely was not looking forward to. Don't say anything to Mary; I want it to be a surprise to her too."

"Won't Charlie tell her?" wondered Kevin.

"He never went inside. I had him and the girls go play in the backyard. I figured it would be easier to unload without them underfoot."

"We'd better get inside before they think we've gotten lost. You look like you need to sit down for a little while, Luce. Are you feeling okay?" Kevin asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. I just have a little back ache, that's all."

Carlos, seeing the concerned look on Kevin's face and the look of pain on Lucy's, decided to go inside and get Matt.

The first person he saw inside was Ruthie. "Hey Ruthie, where's Matt?"

"Oh, hi Carlos. I think he went into the study to get something. Why, is something wrong?"

Carlos looked around and lowered his voice before he answered. "Don't say anything, but I think there might be something wrong with Lucy. She tried to pass it off as a little back ache, but she looked like she was in a lot of pain, and Kevin looked really worried."

"Don't worry. I won't say anything. I will, however, go find Matt while you join you family in the living room. If you go look for Matt and everyone notices you're not there, they'll find out that something's wrong."

"You're right, Ruthie. Thanks."

"No problem. Now go find your family and say hi to everyone."

Ruthie went to the study, but didn't see Matt there, so she peeked in the living room. When she didn't see him in there, she went up to Sarah. "Hey Sarah, where's Matt?"

"Oh, he's upstairs in your old room putting the twins down for a nap."

"Okay, thanks."

Ruthie went upstairs and almost ran into Matt in the hall. "Matt, Carlos thinks something's wrong with Lucy."

"What? Where is she? What's wrong?"

"She's still out back, as far as I know. Carlos said she tried to pass it off as just a little back ache, but said she looked like she was in a lot of pain and Kevin looked really worried."

"Okay, thanks, Ruthie. Go down to the living room and make sure no one else finds out."

"What about Sarah? Do you want me to let her know?"

"Yeah, let her know, but tell her not to come out. If both of us are out there, Mom's going to get suspicious."

"Okay."

Matt headed out to the backyard, where he found out that Carlos was right. Kevin did look worried and Lucy did look like she was in a lot of pain. Matt stayed right outside the door and listened to Kevin and Lucy talk.

"Look, Luce, I know that you're in a lot of pain. Why don't you just admit it?"

'I'm fine, Kevin. I told you, it's just a little backache."

'Lucy, please. I'm worried about you. Please tell me the truth."

Suddenly Lucy doubled over and would have fallen if Kevin hadn't been there to catch her. "Lucy!"

Matt ran towards the couple. "Lucy, what's wrong?" he asked when he got to her side.

Lucy looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Matt, help me. Help my baby." She then passed out.

Kevin looked up at him. 'What's wrong with her?" he cried.

"I don't know yet. Ruthie's in the kitchen. Tell her to have Sarah get my bag out of the study and come out here. Tell her not to make a scene."

Kevin ran inside to do as Matt had instructed. He found Ruthie in the kitchen, where Matt had said she'd be. "Ruthie, go get Sarah. Tell her to get Matt's bag from the study and meet him in the back yard."

Ruthie nodded, looking worried and scared. She turned around and started to do as Kevin instructed, but Kevin, seeing that he'd worried her, pulled her into a quick hug and said, "She'll be okay, Ruthie. Also, tell Sarah to draw as little attention as possible, but to hurry."

Ruthie hurried into the living room and found Sarah. She motioned her towards the study. "Matt needs your help. He said to get his bag and go to the backyard. He also said to try not to draw attention."

Sarah nodded. "Thanks, Ruthie." She then grabbed Matt's bag and hurried into the back yard. By the time she got there, Lucy was once again conscious, but still in pain.

Matt looked up and took his bag from Sarah. "Thanks, Sarah."

"What's wrong with me, Matt?"

"I don't know for sure Lucy, but I think you might be going into labor." He looked up at Kevin. "Did you drive?" When Kevin nodded, Matt said, "Carry her to your car and lay her down in the back seat. I'll be right there." He then turned to Sarah and said, "Go inside and let everyone know what's going on, then meet me at the hospital." He then hurried after Kevin and Lucy.

Sarah entered the house and went into the living room. When she got there, Annie went up to her and said, "There you are, Sarah. I was beginning to wonder where you'd gone. Do you know where matt, Kevin, and Lucy are? Dinner's ready."

"Annie, Lucy's on her way to the hospital. She passed out in the back yard, and Matt thinks she might be going into labor."

"What? Are you sure?"

Sarah nodded. 'Kevin and Matt are taking her to the hospital right now. I'm supposed to meet them there."

"Go ahead and go. I'll tell everyone else."

Annie turned to the others in the room, who were currently gathered around the Rivera Family. "Excuse me, I hate to break up this reunion, but Kevin and Matt just took Lucy to the hospital."

Everyone in the room turned around and stared at Annie. Mary was the first to speak. 'What are we waiting for? Let's go to the hospital!" Everyone quickly scattered and went to their respective cars.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Matt and Kevin were pacing in the waiting room. "Lucy Kinkirk?" a nurse called. Kevin, Matt, and Sarah hurried over to her. "Which of you is Mr. Kinkirk?" she asked looking between Matt and Kevin.

"I am." answered Kevin.

"You can go see your wife now. She's in treatment room 3." Kevin practically ran down the hallway.

"What's wrong with her?" Matt asked the nurse.

"I'm sorry, sir, we can only give that information out to family members."

"I'm her brother, Dr. Matt Camden." he replied, hoping that using his status as a doctor would get him back to see his sister."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Dr. Camden, I didn't recognize you. I'm sorry about your father. He was a good man."

"Yes, ma'am, he was. Thank you. Now, about my sister."

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry, Dr. Camden. It turned out to be just Braxton-Hicks contractions."

"Why did she pass out?"

"She was also dehydrated. The doctors inserted an I.V. and are keeping her overnight for observation, but she should be able to go home in the morning."

Matt breathed a sigh of relief. "May I see her?"

"Wait until we get her settled in a room, then you can see her."

"Alright, thank you." Matt turned to Sarah. "I was so afraid something was wrong that I didn't recognize that it was just false labor. That was stupid of me."

"Matt, she was dehydrated, too. And with her past history of problems with pregnancies, you had every right to be worried. Now why don't you go call the house and let everyone know?"

Matt grinned. "I don't think I have to. Look," he said, pointing at the doors to the emergency department. "It looks like they're all here."

Sara turned and looked where Matt was pointing. Sure enough, coming through the doors of the emergency department was the whole Camden clan.

"Mom, don't worry. Lucy's fine. It was just Braxton-Hicks contractions. The reason that she passed out was because she was dehydrated."

"Thank God." Annie said. "So, does that mean that she's coming home?"

"No, they're going to keep her overnight for observation, but they'll release her in the morning. He peered around Annie, trying to see if indeed the whole family had come to the hospital. "Where are all the kids?"

"Peter, Ruthie, and Roxanne volunteered to stay home and watch them while we came to the hospital." Mary explained. "Can we see Lucy?"

"We have to wait until she gets settled in her room, then we can go in and see her."

In Lucy's room, she had just gotten settled. "Are you ready to see your family yet?" Kevin asked. "I'm sure they're all here by now."

"Yeah, go ahead and tell them that they can come in. Have Matt and Sarah come in first. I don't want them lecturing me in front of everyone else."

"Okay, Luce." Kevin leaned down and kissed her. "You do deserve a lecture, though." Lucy threw a pillow at him. "Okay, okay, I'm going."

Kevin walked out to the waiting room. "Matt, Sarah, Lucy wants to see you."

Matt grinned. "Let me guess. She doesn't want me lecturing her in front of everyone else."

Kevin laughed. "You guessed right. She threw a pillow at me when I told her that she needed a lecture, so she must be feeling better."

Matt, Sarah, and Kevin walked down the hall to Lucy's room. "Hey Luce, you won't throw a pillow at me if I come in will you?" Matt joked as he walked into the room.

"Kevin! I can't believe you told them about that!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Hey, don't get mad at me. You're the one who threw the pillow." Kevin said defensively.

Lucy just glared at him.

"You and I need to have a little talk, squirt." Matt said.

"Matt! I'm too old to be called squirt now. You haven't called me that since Ruthie was born."

"You'll always be squirt to me, no matter how old you are. And quit trying to change the subject. Lucy, you know better than to let yourself get dehydrated at any time, much less when you're pregnant." Matt said seriously.

"I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't realize that I was dehydrated. My back was bugging me too much."

"About that. Lucy, you need to let someone know if you're not feeling good. Even if it is just a little backache. It could have been real labor. If you wait that long to tell someone when it's the real thing, I'll get stuck delivering this baby too. That's not exactly an experience I want to repeat."

"I didn't think anything of it. I could tell it wasn't real labor. I was fine. I didn't want to worry anyone."

"Lucy, I'm your big brother, and I'm also an obstetrician. It's my job to worry, okay? You never were good at letting other people worry about you."

Lucy looked at Sarah. "I'm waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Sarah asked.

"Aren't you going to lecture me too?"

"No, I thought Matt was doing a good enough job for the both of us."

Lucy glared at both Matt and Sarah. "Kevin, I think I'm ready to see everyone else now."

"Okay, I'll go get them." When Kevin returned he had Annie, Mary and Carlos, and Simon and Rose with him.

"Where are Ruthie, Peter, Chandler and Roxanne?" Lucy asked.

"Peter, Ruthie, and Roxanne are at home watching all the kids and Chandler's out in the waiting room." Annie answered. "You scared us, Lucy."

"I know; I'm sorry. I didn't realize that I was dehydrated. Mary and Carlos, I'm sorry for breaking up your first dinner with the family. You didn't really all have to come to the hospital, though."

"It's okay, Lucy. We can all have dinner together another night, and now that we all live in Glenn Oak again, I'm sure we'll be getting together for dinner a lot. I'm just glad that you're okay. When Mom said that Kevin and Matt had taken you to the hospital, I was afraid that something was really wrong with you or the baby."

"You had me worried, too, Lucy. You really looked like you were in a lot of pain when I was talking to you and Kevin in the backyard." said Carlos.

"So you're the one who told Matt. I wondered how he found out."

"Well, actually, I didn't tell him. I told Ruthie, and she told him for me."

"It's as much our fault that Lucy got dehydrated as it is hers. She worked pretty hard today, harder than she should have, being almost eight months pregnant." Simon said.

"What were you all doing?" Mary asked.

"You'll find out when you get home." Rose said quickly, shooting Simon a look.

Mary turned to Carlos. "Do you know what they're talking about?"

"Let's go pick up the twins and go home, babe. You'll find out when we get home." Carlos said evasively

"So you do know. What is it?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you. Now go on out to the car, I'll be right there." Carlos turned to Simon. "Go ahead and call Peter and tell him to get it ready now." He then went to go join Mary in the car.

"What was he talking about?" Annie asked Simon.

"Carlos planned a little surprise of his own for Mary. Peter and Ruthie are going to have Charlie and the girls in bed and hopefully asleep by the time they get to our house, and Carlos is going to convince Mary to let them sleep and get them in the morning. He wants a night alone with Mary. They haven't had one since the twins were born."

"What would Peter have to get ready for that? Didn't Carlos tell them ahead of time?" Lucy asked once Simon got off the phone.

"Yes, he did, but there's still more to the surprise. Peter is going to place candles in their bedroom all ready for Carlos to light, and he's going to set up a little table and reheat the casserole we made for them, and Carlos and Mary are going to have a candlelight dinner."

"Man, it's no wonder they have three kids!" Lucy exclaimed. "Maybe you should take lessons from him, Kevin.

"Maybe I should." Kevin said slyly. "Mom, would you mind keeping Savannah tonight? I'd really like to stay at the hospital with Lucy."

"I wouldn't mind at all. As a matter of fact, Matt, why don't I take Keller and Liam, too? That way if they're asleep you don't have to wake them, and you and Sarah can have the night alone."

"That's fine with me. Is that okay with you, Sarah?" Matt said

"Sure. We haven't had a night alone since they were born." Sarah pointed out.

"Alright then, it's settled. We'd better get going and let Lucy get some sleep now." Annie said.

"Hey!" exclaimed matt. "That's my line! I'm the doctor, remember?"

"Come on, doctor, let's go home." said Sarah pulling her husband out of the room. "Bye, Lucy."

"Goodbye, everyone!" Lucy called. After they'd all left, Lucy turned to Kevin. "You don't have to stay here with me all night. I know these chairs aren't comfortable. Why don't you go home and get some rest. You worked hard today."

"I'm fine. I want to stay. You scared me today, Luce. I was afraid that I was going to lose you. I don't think I could go on if anything happened to you. You're my world, Lucy. I love you so much."

"Oh, Kevin, I love you too. But I'm fine. You heard the doctor say that yourself. Go home and get some sleep. I'll be fine."

"No. I'm going to stay here at the hospital with you. I'll be fine sleeping in the chair. Now go to sleep. You need your rest. Goodnight, Lucy." he brushed her forehead with a kiss.

"Goodnight, Kevin." Lucy said right before falling asleep.

Back at the Camden house, Carlos was still trying to convince Mary to leave the kids there when Annie pulled into the driveway. "Come on, babe. It's only for one night. Besides, we haven't had a night alone since the twins were born."

"Savannah, Liam, and Keller are spending the night too. Go home. You deserve a night alone with your husband."

"Are you sure you candle handle all of them by yourself?" asked Mary.

"Of course I can. If I need help, Ruthie's here, and Rose and Roxanne are spending the night too. Now go home."

"Okay, okay, I give up. I can't fight both of you. Goodnight, Mom. I'll see you in the morning." Mary turned to Carlos. "I'm anxious to see this surprise that everyone knows about but me."

"You'll like it, Mary. Believe me." When they pulled in the driveway, Carlos ran around the van and opened Mary's door for her. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to. No peeking, now."

Carlos led Mary up to the front door, unlocked, and then led her inside. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

May was shocked. "Carlos, everything is unpacked. How…?"

"There's a note on the kitchen table. Go read it. I'll be right back."

Mary walked into the kitchen and found the note. It read:

_Dear Mary and Carlos,_

_ We hope that you don't mind that we unpacked your stuff. We figured you would be tired after such a long trip and wouldn't feel much like unpacking. Feel free to move stuff around if you don't like where it is. We'll see you later tonight!_

_Love,_

_Mom, Matt, Sarah, Kevin, Lucy,_

_Simon, Rose, and Sam and David_

Carlos came walking into the kitchen just as Mary finished reading the note. "Come on. There's another surprise in the bedroom." he said.

"Another one? How many surprises can they think up?"

"This one isn't from them. It's my surprise for you." Carlos took her hand and led her to the bedroom. Peter had outdone himself on getting in ready. There was a small round table just large enough for two people sitting in one corner of the room, with a white tablecloth covering it and a pair of candlesticks in the middle. New to the table was a tea cart that held the casserole and a small cake. There were candles all around the room, and thee were rose petals scattered on top of the bedspread.

"Oh, Carlos, it's beautiful!" Mary whispered. "Thank you."

"I figured that our first night in our new home should be special."

"When did you do all this?" Mary wondered.

"I didn't do anything except light the candles. Peter did everything else. From the looks of things, he must have had a little help from Ruthie." He pulled Mary's chair out for her. "Shall we eat?"


	9. Lucy

A/N: Here it is, the next chapter. Enjoy, and don't forget to review! I only had on review on the last chapter.

Disclaimer: I know nothing. I did however, make up the names for the new baby and Matt and Mary's twins. I don't care if you use them, though.

* * *

Kevin sat in the chair beside Lucy's bed watching her sleep. "Lucy, you're beautiful, you know that?" he whispered, more to himself than to Lucy. He had been so scared that something was really wrong with her or the baby when she had passed out. He knew that she wouldn't have been able to handle losing another baby so soon after losing the twins. She had come a long ways from where she was, but he heard crying at night sometimes after he'd gone to bed, when she thought he wouldn't hear her. He'd even come upon her with her head down on her desk in her office at church, crying. Recently though, she'd been so happy. Ever since she became pregnant, she'd been walking around the house glowing. It had dimmed a bit after her dad had died, but it was a big difference from right after she lost the twins.

"Kevin?" Lucy asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"What's wrong, Luce?"

Lucy laughed. "Can't I say your name without something being wrong?" she asked.

"Yes, you're right. I'm sorry." Kevin got up and sat on the edge of Lucy's bed. "Did you need something?"

Lucy slipped her hand into Kevin's. "Not really. I was just going to ask you if you'd gotten any sleep."

"You need to stop worrying about me. I got plenty of sleep. I'm fine, sweetheart. Now go back to sleep. You need your rest."

Lucy turned so she could look at Kevin's face. She could tell just by looking that he was lying about the amount of sleep. "Kevin, you really should have gone home. I would have been fine."

"Luce, I'm fine. I wanted to stay here with you."

"Kevin Kinkirk, you are the most stubborn man I know." She laid her head against his chest and smiled. "But I love you anyway."

"I love you too, Lucy." He kissed the top of her head.

Just as he did so, the doctor walked in. "Well, I can definitely see why you two are pregnant." he joked. "Lucy, we're kicking you out. We need this bed for someone that's really sick."

"Thanks, Dr. Andrews."

Dr. Andrews walked towards the door, and then turned back to Lucy and Kevin. "Oh, and Lucy? I don't want to see you again except in my office for your next check up. Understood?" He smiled.

Lucy and Kevin laughed. "I understand. Believe me, I want the same thing." Lucy replied.

After the Dr. Anderson left the room, Lucy looked up at Kevin. "Let's go get Savannah and go home."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here a little longer?" Kevin joked.

"That's not funny, Kevin."

"I know; I'm sorry. Come on, let's go fill out the paperwork and get out of here."

An hour later, they were pulling into the driveway at the Camdens. "Lucy, why don't you stay in the car while I get Savannah?" Kevin suggested.

"No. I want to see Mom. Anyways, I hardly got to see Charlie and the girls last night. From what Simon was telling us, I doubt Mary and Carlos have picked them up yet."

"Okay. But don't blame me if your mom tries to convince us to leave Savannah here so you can get some rest."

"Well, you know, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to leave Savannah here. After all, Mary and Carlos had the night to themselves, and so did Matt and Mary. Isn't it just fair that we get a night to ourselves, too?"

"We did. We spent last night by ourselves." Kevin said with a look of mock seriousness on his face.

"Kevin, that's not the same and you know it!"

"I know. Somehow I get the idea that you don't exactly have getting some rest in mind."

"Kevin Kinkirk! You have a dirty mind!" Lucy exclaimed.

"So do you, Lucy Kinkirk." He leaned down and kissed her. "Come on, let's go and let Mom convince us that it'd be best if she kept Savannah."

Lucy and Kevin walked into the house. "Mom!" Lucy called. "We're here!"

Ruthie came down the stairs holding Keller on one hip and Erica on the other. "Hi, Lucy. Hi, Kevin. Mom's upstairs changing Ava."

Lucy reached out to take Erica. "Here, let me take Erica. You look like you have your hands full."

"Thanks, Lucy. These two are heavier than they look."

"Here let me see this little guy." said Kevin, reaching out to take Keller.

"Aunt Wufie!"

Ruthie rolled her eyes. "I'm beginning to wish Charlie didn't know my name."

Kevin and Lucy laughed. "Aunt Wufie!" Charlie called again.

"Coming!" Ruthie called, turning to go up the stairs. "I'll bring Savannah down, too."

"Okay, thanks." Lucy replied.

A few minutes later, Ruthie came back down, holding Savannah and Charlie's hands, followed by Annie, who was carrying Liam and Ava. "Hi Lucy, Hi Kevin!" Annie greeted.

"Hi, Mom. How did it go last night?" Lucy wanted to know.

"Oh, it went just fine. I don't think I could have done it if Rose and Roxanne hadn't stayed, though. Now that the twins are starting to walk, they get into everything. I don't know how Mary and Sarah do it."

Lucy laughed. "Well, they never have all of the kids at once, and they are younger than you."

"Thanks, Lucy." Annie said, dryly.

"Anytime, Mom."

"Are you sure you're feeling okay? Maybe I should keep Savannah so you can get some rest."

Lucy and Kevin looked at each other and grinned. "You know, Mom, I think maybe you should keep Savannah. I don't want Lucy wearing herself out. Besides, Savannah loves staying at your house. She's always asking when she can go over to Grandma's house." Kevin said.

"Okay, then. You can pick her up tomorrow morning." Annie said.

"Okay." Lucy set Erica down and picked up Savannah. "Bye, Savannah. You be a good girl for Grandma, okay?" Lucy gave Savannah a kiss, and then set her back down. "Come on, Kevin, let's go."

Kevin handed Keller to Ruthie, gave Savannah a hug and kiss, then followed Lucy out to the car. "Well, that was easier than I thought it would be." Kevin said.

"I knew that Mom would offer to keep her, but I never thought that she's offer that quickly, especially after having all six grandchildren spend the night."

They pulled into their driveway. "So, what are we going to do with a whole day to ourselves?" Kevin asked. "We haven't been alone for a whole day since Savannah was born."

"Well, there is that honey-do list that I made for you, and I'm sure I can find plenty of other things for you to do." Lucy grinned.

"Lucy!"

"Or we could go take a nap together." Lucy suggested.

Now it was Kevin's turn to smile. "I like that idea much better." he said.

Back at the Camden's house, Ruthie stared at her mom, shocked. "I can't believe that you offered to keep Savannah until tomorrow after having all six kids last night." Ruthie said.

"Well, I kind of sensed that Lucy and Kevin wanted a little alone time." Annie said. "They haven't had much of that recently, and I know they'll get even less after the baby comes."

"Mom? Ruthie?" Matt called.

"We're in the kitchen, Matt." Annie called back.

Matt and Sarah walked in. "Hi! How did it go last night?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, it went fine. Roxanne and Rose were a big help. I never realized how much stuff one year olds can get into."

Matt laughed. "It has been awhile since you've had babies in the house, hasn't it?" He picked up Liam and Sarah picked up Keller. "We'll take these two off your hands. Lucy and Kevin haven't come yet?" he asked, concerned.

"They were already here, but I told them I'd keep Savannah so Lucy could get some rest." Annie explained.

"Oh, okay. I thought maybe something had come up and they hadn't released her from the hospital yet. We'll see you at church on Sunday. Bye!" Matt and Sarah left.

"Well, two down, three to go. I wonder when Carlos and Mary will get here?" Ruthie said.

"How about right now? Is that soon enough for you?" Mary asked, coming into the room. "What's the matter? Are you tired of your nieces and nephew already?"

"No, of course not. It's just that Peter and I have plans, and I don't want to leave Mom alone with four kids."

"Where is Peter? I'm surprised he's not here. It seems like you two have been spending every available moment together since you started dating." Carlos said.

Ruthie looked at her watch. "He's supposed to pick me up in five minutes." Mary gave her a funny look. "What?" Ruthie asked. Then she realized why Mary was looking at her strange. "Oh no!" she groaned. "He's going to be her in five minutes and I haven't even started getting ready! What am I going to do?" she wailed.

Mary gave her a sympathetic look and turned to Carlos. "Is it okay if I stay and help Ruthie get ready?"

"Sure, babe. I'll take the kids home. Take your time." He gave her a kiss, then took the kids and left.

Mary turned back to Ruthie. "Come on. I'll help you get ready."

Ruthie brightened. "Really? Oh thank you!" she squealed.

They headed upstairs to her attic bedroom. "Where are you guys going?" Mary asked as she helped Ruthie get ready.

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. All he said was to dress up, that we were going someplace very special."

"Ooh, sounds romantic!" Mary said.

"Knowing Peter, probably. Every date that we've been on so far has been romantic."

"After seeing my room last night, I can imagine."

"Oh really? What did Peter do? It seemed like it took him awhile."

"You mean you didn't help at all?" Mary was surprised.

"No. Why? What did it look like?"

"Well, it was very romantic and so beautiful that I figured you'd helped him. I'm not going to tell you. I don't want to ruin it for you if he does something like that after you're married."

Ruthie turned to look at Mary. "You know, I think that's the first time someone's really come right out and said that Peter and I will get married. At first it was always if, but lately everyone's talked like we'll get married, but they haven't actually said it. When you say it I can hardly believe it."

"Neither can I. It's hard to believe that my little sister is really serious about a guy, and really, truly in love. I'm so happy for you, Ruthie."

Just then Annie peeked in. "Ruthie, Peter's here. He said to take your time."

"Okay, thanks mom." Ruthie replied.

Annie headed back down stairs. "She doesn't suspect a thing." she told Peter.

He looked relieved. "Good. I was afraid she'd found out somehow. You know how hard it is to keep a secret from Ruthie."

Annie laughed. "Believe me, I know. Do you know how hard it was around Christmas every year? Whoever had her name always waited until the last minute to get her present, and even that didn't guarantee that it would be a surprise."

Peter smiled. "So, everyone's going to be able to come, right?"

"Yes. Roxanne was able to get some of her friends to baby-sit, so no one has to miss out."

"Good." Peter looked around. "Where are Sam and David?" he asked.

"Oh, I sent them over to Chandler's. They adore him and Roxanne, and they're horrible at keeping secrets, so I didn't want them around here."

"I'm ready." said Ruthie.

Peter turned to look at her and stared in shock. She was wearing a beautiful knee length black dress, and her hair was swept up into an up-do. "You look gorgeous, honey." He walked over and gave her a kiss.

Ruthie blushed. "I'm not too dressed up, am I?" she asked.

"No, not at all. You look perfect." he handed her the bunch of roses that he'd brought.

"Oh, Peter, they're beautiful!"

"Just like you. Now go put them in some water. I can wait." Ruthie rushed off to do as he suggested and came back a few minutes later. "Okay, let's go." said Peter.

He and Ruthie walked out to his car, where he opened the door for her. On her seat there was a small white bow with a red bow on top. "Peter, what is this for?" she asked.

Peter laughed. "Your mom told me, but I didn't believe. Have you forgotten what day it is?" Ruthie gave him a blank stare. "It's you birthday, hon."

"I can't believe I forgot my birthday! How in the world did I do that?" Ruthie exclaimed.

"Go on, open it." Peter encouraged her, referring to the box she was holding.

Ruthie opened up the box. Inside was a pair of diamond earrings with a matching tennis bracelet. "Oh, Peter, they're beautiful! Thank you!" She put them on.

"You're welcome. Happy birthday, sweetheart."

They pulled into a park. "What are we doing here? Why did we dress up to come to a park?" she asked.

"You're going to get your picture taken." Peter explained. He opened her door and helped her out of the car. "Come on. The photographer is waiting."

After Ruthie and Peter had left the Camden house, Mary went home, and Annie rushed upstairs to get changes, grabbed Savannah, and then ran over to the garage apartment. "Chandler, Roxanne, Sam, David! Come on, they just left. We've got to hurry if we want to have everything ready by the time Peter gets Ruthie there." she called up the stairs while opening the garage door. She buckled Savannah into her car seat.

Roxanne came down the stairs with Sam and David, who had gotten dressed in the apartment. "Chandler's coming. He'll be down in just a few minutes. He just has to finish getting ready."

When Chandler came down, everyone got into the van and drove over to Matt and Sarah's house, where they had arranged for the babysitters to watch the kids. Annie got Savannah out of the Car and took her inside. The babysitters were already there. "Hi, my name's Abby, this is Liz, and the one holding Liam is Melanie." one of the babysitters introduced herself. "Sarah already gave Liz all the emergency contact info for everyone and all the basic information, so is there anything else I need to know?"

"She's ready for a nap. She usually sleeps about two hours. When she wakes up, she'll probably want a snack. She already had lunch. That's pretty much it."

'Okay. Matt and Sarah already left, and so did Mary and Carlos. They said to tell you they were stopping to get a few decorations, and then they'd meet you at the restaurant."

"Okay, thanks!" Annie rushed out.

When she, Chandler, Roxanne, Sam, and David arrived at the restaurant, Matt, Sarah, Mary, and Carlos where already there, decorating. Kevin and Lucy arrived shortly after Annie and the others. By the time Ruthie and Peter arrived, everything was ready and the other guests were there.

Peter started to lead Ruthie toward the party room that they had rented. "Where are we going?" asked Ruthie.

"You'll see." was all that Peter would say. When they got to the closed doors of the room, Peter instructed, "Close your eyes and give me your hand." Ruthie obeyed. Peter opened the door and led Ruthie in, then told her to open her eyes.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday!" everyone yelled.

"How in the world did you pull this off without me knowing?" Ruthie asked.

"Well, it was made easier by the fact that you totally forgot about your birthday." Simon said.

"Peter was a big part of it. He took you out of the house so much that it was easy to plan this without your finding out." Annie explained.

Ruthie turned to Peter. "I wondered why we went more places these past two weeks than we had in the whole time we were dating."

Peter grinned. "Oh, come on. I didn't take you that many places. Now go on, go enjoy your party." He kissed her on the cheek and gently pushed her towards her family.

Ruthie looked around the room. Her mom and all of her brothers and sisters were there, along with there spouse, or in Simon's case, fiancée. Chandler and Roxanne were there too, and so was Robbie. Peter's mom was there, along with Ben, Margaret, and Jane.

"Robbie!" she squealed when she saw him. "When did you get in?" Last I heard you were still in Florida, trying to sell your place."

"I got in two days ago. I finally sold my place about a week ago, so I've been pretty busy since then, moving. That's why I didn't call you. Well, that, and the fact that I didn't want to spoil your surprise party."

"Can Ruthie open her presents now?" Sam and David wanted to know.

Ruthie smiled. "Yeah, can I?" she asked.

"Sure, go ahead." said Annie.

Ruthie sat down and grabbed a small, square box. "Who is this from?" she asked.

"That's from me." said Ben.

Ruthie opened it, and inside was a bottle of perfume. She opened the bottle up and smelled it. "Mmm. This smells good. Thanks, Ben." The next present that she picked up was a big rectangular shaped box. "Who is this from?"

"That's from Kevin, Savannah, and I." Lucy said.

Ruthie opened it, and inside was a gorgeous red dress, much like the black one she was wearing. Sitting on top of the dress was a picture frame that held a picture of Ruthie and Savannah. "Oh, Lucy, Kevin, the dress is beautiful and I love the picture! Thank you." The next present she picked up was a small jeweler's box.

"That's from Carlos and me." Mary said.

Inside was a diamond necklace that matched the earrings and bracelet that Peter had gotten her. "It's beautiful! I love it! Thank you."

"There's another part to the present." said Carlos. He grabbed a rectangular package from the table where Ruthie's presents were. "Here, open this."

Ruthie opened it, and inside was a picture, taken when Mary and Carlos were home for the funeral, or Ruthie, Charlie, Erica, and Ava. "I love this picture! I meant to ask you for a copy, but I kept forgetting, Thanks you." The next present that Ruthie opened was from Annie, Sam, and David. It was a picture of Ruthie with Eric, taken only a few days before his death. Ruthie looked up with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Mom, boys. It's beautiful."

Annie wiped the tears from her own eyes. "I came across it a couple of days ago when I was sorting through pictures. There's something else, too. Something that your father picked out." she handed Ruthie an envelope.

Inside were two round trip tickets to Scotland. "Mom, what are these for?" she asked.

"They're for you and Peter. You can use them now, or you can wait until after you two are married and use them for your honeymoon. Your Dad only bought one one-way ticket, of course, so I traded it in and bought the other one since I knew you wouldn't go without Peter. The ticket is your dad's promise to you, Ruthie. When he made you come home from Scotland, he promised you that you could go back. This is him keeping his promise."

Ruthie broke down and cried, along with most of the other people in the room. Whoever wasn't crying had tears in their eyes. "I'd completely forgotten about that." she said. She gave Annie a hug. "Thank you, Mom." she wiped her eyes and reached for the next present. It was a five piece luggage set from Matt and Sarah. Inside was a picture of Ruthie with Liam and Keller.

"When Mom told us what she was getting you, we figured you could use a nice luggage set." Matt explained.

"Thank you. It'll definitely be nice to have when Peter and I go to Scotland, and I love the picture." The next present, from Robbie, Jane, and Margaret, was a necklace and earring set. "They're beautiful. Thank you." There were only three presents left now. Ruthie reached for the smallest one, an envelope with her name on it. She opened it up, and inside was a gift certificate to a spa. "Oh, Paris, thank you so much!" she exclaimed.

There were only two presents left now. Ruthie turned to Sam and David. "Which one should I open next?" she asked. They both pointed to the biggest one, another large rectangular box. She opened it, and inside was a midnight blue bridesmaids dress. "I assume this is from you?" She asked, turning to Simon and Rose.

Rose smiled. "Yes, it's from us. I'd like you to be my Maid of Honor, Ruthie."

Ruthie threw her arms around Rose. "I'd love too." she said excitedly. "Thank you." She reached for the last present on the table and opened it. Inside was a makeup kit, along with a new Bible. 'Chandler, Roxanne, thank you. I love them both. I can always use more makeup and I needed a new Bible."

Just then a waiter walked in with their food. They all sat down and ate, and when they'd finished, the waiter brought in the cake and they all sang "Happy Birthday" to Ruthie. When everyone had finished eating, Peter got up and turned on the CD player that Kevin and Lucy had brought from their house, and walked over to Ruthie. "May I have this dance?" he asked.

Ruthie smiled and blushed. "You most certainly may." she replied, taking his hand. He led her into the middle of the floor, and they started dancing to "Just the Way You Look Tonight". Everyone watched them dance for a few more minutes, and then the other couples slowly started joining them in dancing. Mary and Carlos joined them first, then Matt and Sarah, Simon and Rose, and Chandler and Roxanne. Kevin and Lucy were the last ones to join them. Ben stood up, walked over to Annie, and asked her to dance. She declined his offer, so he then went to Paris, who graciously accepted. Robbie and Jane started dancing then, and Margaret went over to dance with the twins.

After a little while, Kevin led Lucy back to the table and helped her sit down. "Are you okay?" Annie asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, Mom. I just got a little tired, that's all." Lucy replied.

"Mom, would you like to dance?" Kevin asked.

"Oh, no, thank you, Kevin. I'm really not that good of a dancer." Annie replied.

"That's not true. I saw you and Dad dance together many times, and if I remember correctly, you were quite good. You and Kevin go dance. I'll be fine." Lucy insisted.

"Please, Annie?" Kevin asked again.

Annie laughed. "Okay, okay. I can't resist the both of you." Kevin took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor.

"Hey, you're pretty good, Mom." Kevin said, surprised. "I thought you said you weren't very good." Kevin teased. When Annie didn't reply, he looked down and saw tears in her eyes. "Annie?" he asked gently. "What's wrong? And don't tell me nothing. I know you better than that."

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just feeling sorry for myself tonight, that's all. I'll be fine."

"Thinking about Dad?" he asked.

Annie nodded. "What we did today reminded me of the night that you and Lucy got engaged. He was so excited, but afraid to let go of his baby at the same time." She laughed softly. "We had so much fun that night, surprising Lucy, dancing, and celebrating Sam and David's birthday. I miss those days."

"Mom, I know that Dad wouldn't want you to be sad tonight. He'd want you to be happy. Ruthie's eighteen, and she's madly in love with a wonderful young man who feels the same about her. If I'm guessing right, they'll be engaged before too long."

Annie smiled sadly. "All of my babies are growing up. I find it so hard to believe that Ruthie's in love, and before too long she'll be getting married. Do you really think she's ready?"

"She's grown up quite a bit since she first went off to Scotland. Even over these past five, almost six, months since Dad died, she's matured a lot. She's grown into a fine young woman. So, yes, I think she's ready. If it was my decision, and Peter asked me for permission to marry her, I'd give it to him."

"I've been thinking about that. I know that he'll ask me, and of course I'd give him permission, but I think I'd want him to ask you, too."

"Really? Why me? Why not Matt or Simon?"

"Because you're the one that's been around the most these past several years. You've always been just as much of a big brother to her as Matt, and you two are so close." Annie explained.

"Mom, Sarah, Mary, Carlos, and I are going to get going." Matt said, coming over to Annie and Kevin.

Kevin looked at his watch. "Lucy and I better go too. I'm sure that the babysitters are more that ready to go home." All three couples said their goodbyes and wished Ruthie happy birthday again, and then left.

Simon and Rose were next to leave. "We'd better get going. We have a long drive to make."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay at the house tonight and leave in the morning?"

"Thanks, Mom, but no. We want to get home. Anyways, I have to work in the morning. Bye, everyone. Happy Birthday again, Ruthie."

After they left, everyone else was not too far behind. When all the guests were gone, Annie turned to Peter and Ruthie. "Are you two coming home now?" she asked.

Ruthie looked to Peter for the answer to that question. "Not quite yet. There's one more stop we have to make first."

"Okay. I'll see you in a little while then." Annie left.

Ruthie and Peter walked out to the car. Once they were inside the car, Ruthie turned towards Peter. "Where are we going now?" she asked.

"You'll see." was all that he'd say. Five minutes later they were pulling into the cemetery where Eric was buried. "I know that you haven't had a chance to visit your dad's grave yet today, so I figured we could visit him together."

They got out of the car and walked toward Eric's grave. Ruthie knelt down beside her father's tombstone. "Dad, I wish you could have been here today. They gave me a surprise party for my eighteenth birthday. But I guess you already know that, don't you? You were probably watching the whole thing with Grandma and Grandpa up there in Heaven. I wish you were still here. I miss you. As you probably know, your wish came true. Peter and I are together. He came here with me. I love you, Daddy."

Peter knelt down beside Ruthie, wrapped his arms around her, and held her while she cried. "Shh, it's okay. It was his time to go. God needed him in heaven more than we needed him here." Peter took a deep breath. "We sure do miss you, Reverend Camden. Lucy and Chandler are doing a good job of taking your place in the church, but it's just not the same. You should have been here for Ruthie's party. It was wonderful. Everyone had so much fun. I love your daughter, Reverend Camden. I'm glad that you helped push us together. Those letters that you wrote me meant so much to me. It helped to know that I had your approval." He gave Ruthie a kiss, and then stood up. "I'm going to go wait in the car so you can talk to your Dad alone. I'm sure there are some things you'd rather tell him without me here."

After Peter walked away, Ruthie sat there in silence for a few minutes, trying to gather her thoughts. "Dad, I really love Peter. He's the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I only wish that you could be here to see us together. I know that it'd make you so happy. He's the man that I want to marry."

Ruthie could almost imagine her Dad saying, "I know all this, Ruthie. I've been watching over you from Heaven. I always knew that you and Peter would get together."

Ruthie heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw Lucy and Kevin standing there. "When did you two get here?" she asked, standing up while trying to quickly wipe away her tears.

"Just a few seconds ago." Lucy replied, wrapping Ruthie in a hug. "I wondered if you would be here."

"Peter brought me here. He knew that I needed to tell Dad about today."

"That's part of the reason we came here, too." Kevin said, wrapping Ruthie in a hug once Lucy had released her. He wiped away the remaining tears on her face.

"do you two come here often?" Ruthie asked. "I never see anyone here when I come, but I can tell people have been here."

"I came here almost every day at first. It helped me to heal. Now I come here at least twice a week, sometimes more if I get the chance." Kevin replied.

"I come every day. It helps to tell him what went on during the day. I don't think I could have handled the grief at first if I hadn't come every day." Lucy stated.

"At first I couldn't bear to come because it would mean admitting that he really was dead. But then about two weeks after the funeral, I came here and talked to him, and it really helped, so now I come whenever I can." Ruthie said "I'd better get going. Peter's waiting for me at the car."

After Ruthie left, Kevin and Lucy knelt down by the tombstone. "Ruthie's grown up so much since you died, Dad. You'd be so proud of her. She and Peter are deeply in love. He's been so good for her, and he's so sweet to her. I wish you could have been at the party today, Dad. It's hard to believe that my little sister is eighteen. She acts and looks so much older, though. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was at least twenty." Lucy swiped at her eyes.

"Dad, we all miss you here. You would have had so much fun at the party today. It reminded me of when I proposed to Lucy, except the whole family was there, along with Ruthie's closest friends. She's so grown up now, and so very much in love." He and Lucy stood up and walked back to their car.

One month later, Lucy was getting very uncomfortable. The baby was due in two weeks. As Lucy was getting ready for church, Kevin came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "How are you feeling today, Luce?"

"I can't wait until this baby gets here! I was never this uncomfortable when I was pregnant with Savannah."

"Lucy, you know what they say. Every pregnancy is different. Now are you sure you feel up to preaching today?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Other than the fact that my back hurts, I feel fine. My back always hurts these days."

"Lucy, I'm sure that Chandler would be more than willing to preach for you. Why don't you ask him? I don't like the idea of you preaching today."

Lucy was getting upset. "Kevin, I'm going to be just fine. The baby's not due for two more weeks. I'm going to preach today."

"Lucy, please. You know the doctor would rather you not preach anymore until the baby comes."

"I know, but I can't give up preaching. Look, if I feel the slightest little twinge, I'll ask Chandler to preach, okay?"

Kevin sighed. "You promise?"

Lucy gave him a kiss. "Yes, I promise. Now will you just relax? I'll be fine, okay?"

Kevin smiled. "Okay, Reverend Kinkirk. I'll stop worrying."

Lucy laughed. "I don't think it's possible for you to stop worrying, Mr. Kinkirk."

Over at the Camden house, Ruthie was still getting ready when Peter arrived to take her to church. "Come on in, Peter. Ruthie's upstairs getting ready still. You're early today." Annie said when she opened the door and saw Peter standing on the porch.

"Yes, well, I was wondering if I could talk to you." Peter said.

"Certainly. What is it?" Annie asked.

"Mom, we're ready!" shouted David as he and Sam came bounding down the stairs.

"Could I talk to you in private, Mrs. Camden?" Peter asked.

"Sure. We'll use the study. Boys, stay out here and wait for Ruthie." Annie instructed. She led Peter to the study. "Now, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Mrs. Camden, I love Ruthie very much, and she loves me. I want to ask her to marry me." Peter stated, nervously.

Annie smiled. "Somehow I had a feeling that's what you wanted to talk about. You have my permission, but there's someone else I'd like you to ask for permission first."

"Who is it?"

"Kevin."

"I was already planning on asking Matt, Kevin, Carlos, and Simon. I figured they'd want to have some say in it, too."

"That's fine with me. We're having dinner here after church today. Why don't you ask them then?" Annie suggested.

"Okay. Thanks, Mrs. Camden."

"Oh, peter? One more thing. Don't call me Mrs. Camden. You can call Annie, or, if you want, after you and Ruthie get engaged, you can call me Mom."

Peter grinned. "Okay, thanks, Annie." They walked out of the study and back to the kitchen. Ruthie was waiting there with the boys.

"Are you ready?" Peter asked Ruthie. When she nodded, he said, "Okay. Let's go."

Chandler and Ruthie met in their office before the service began. "Are you feeling okay, Lucy?" Chandler asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, Chandler, thanks." Lucy replied

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything."

"Actually, there is one thing."

"What is it?" asked Chandler.

"I need to know when you and Roxanne plan on setting a date."

Chandler smiled. 'We just set one yesterday, actually. We're going to wait and get married a month after Simon and Rose, if that date works for you."

"That date works fine. I'm so happy for you two!"

"Thank you. Why don't you let me greet everyone today?" Chandler suggested. "That way you can stay sitting down a little bit longer."

"Really? Thank you. That would be wonderful." As soon as Chandler walked out of the office, Lucy grimaced. She would be glad when the baby came. She loved to greet the people, but knew it would be best for her to rest as long as possible. A knock sounded on the office door, which Chandler had closed when he left. "Come in!" Lucy said, expecting it to be Kevin.

"Hey, Lucy." Matt said, peaking in. "Chandler said you were in here. How are you feeling?" he asked, coming all the way into the room.

"I'm feeling fine. I'd be feeling a lot better if two things would happen, though." Lucy replied.

"Oh, really? What are those two things?" Matt asked, crossing his arms and perching on the desk.

"The first thing that would make me feel better is if people would stop asking how I am, and the second thing is if the baby would get here." Matt laughed. "Matt!" Lucy exclaimed. "It's not funny! It's true!"

Matt stopped laughing. "I'm sorry, Lucy. You do know that the only reason people ask how you are is because they're concerned about you, don't you?"

Lucy sighed. "Yes, I know. Kevin's always watching me for the slightest little wince, like I'm a ticking time bomb that could go off at any second. I get's kind of annoying."

"He's only doing it because he loves you, Lucy. He doesn't want anything to happen to you or the baby." Just then the music started playing. "Got to go. See you at Mom's house after the service. Love you."

"Okay. Love you too." Lucy headed onto the platform and took her seat beside Chandler. She felt a slight twinge in her back as she sat down, but ignored it. As the service wore on, though, she began to wish she hadn't the pain was getting sharper, and was spreading. "Oh great," she thought to herself, "just what I need, to go into labor right before I preach." Lucy ignored the pains as she stepped up to preach. "I'd like to welcome you to our service today. The topic of my message today is Love."

Lucy was almost to the end of her sermon when a very strong contraction hit her. By that time, she knew she'd waited too long. She quickly finished her message, and then stepped down from the pulpit. She hurried over to Chandler as fast as she could for the amount of pain she was in. He met her halfway, seeing her pain, and helped her to their office. "Lucy, are you okay?"

Lucy shook her head and opened her mouth to say something when the strongest contraction yet hit her. She cried out and doubled over in pain. "Get…Kevin." she managed to squeeze out before the next contraction hit her.

Chandler's face drained of its color. He whirled around and ran out of the room, searching desperately for Kevin. He found him waiting in the front of the auditorium along with the rest of the family. "Kevin! Lucy's in labor!" Chandler yelled.

Kevin's face turned pale. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"In our office." Chandler had barely gotten the words out before Kevin broke into a run heading for the office, with Matt close behind.

When he got there, he found Lucy lying on the floor trying to remember her breathing. "Lucy!"

Lucy had never been so happy to see him in her life. "Kevin! The…baby…coming." she panted.

Kevin dropped down beside her and cradled her head in his lap. "Shh, its okay, Luce. We'll get you to the hospital." he soothed.

"No…time." she said as the next contraction hit.

Matt arrived just in time to hear those last two words. "Let me make that decision, okay, Luce?" he said with a lot more calmness than he felt. He turned to Sarah, who had followed him. "Go get my bag from the car. I have a feeling I'm going to need it." He turned back to Lucy. "When did the labor start?" he asked.

Lucy groaned as another contraction hit. When it had passed, she said, "My back hurt this morning." She had to pause as another contraction hit. "Really started hurting during the service." she rushed out as soon as it passed.

Sarah ran back in with the bag. "Thanks, Sarah." Turning to Lucy, he said, "I need to check you now, okay?" When she nodded, he went ahead with her examination. When he was finished, he sighed and said, "Well, it looks like you'll be having this baby at the church."

Kevin sighed and shook his head. "Lucy, why didn't you say something? I f you had told us as soon as it started we could have gotten you to the hospital."

Lucy was in too much pain to answer. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.

"Okay, Kevin are you going to help again or do you want me to do it?" Matt asked.

Kevin looked down at Lucy, who gripped his hand even harder at Matt's question. "You do it." he said. "Lucy needs my support more than anything right now." He brushed her hair out of her face.

"Okay, Lucy. When the next contraction hits, I need you to push, okay?" Lucy nodded.

"Okay, good girl. Now, push again." Matt instructed. Lucy obeyed. "Okay, I can see the head. Come on, Lucy, one more push."

Lucy looked up at Kevin. "I can't," she whispered.

"Yes, you can." Kevin encouraged. "Come on, baby, just one more."

Lucy pushed with all her might. "Okay, stop." Matt said. "The head's out." He quickly suctioned out the baby's nose and mouth. "Okay, Luce. One more time. Last push, I promise." Lucy once again bore down, and the baby slipped out into Matt's hands. "You have a beautiful baby girl." he said, drying the baby off with the towel Sarah handed him."

The baby let out a cry. "I don't think she's too happy." Kevin said.

Lucy had tears in her eyes. "Can I hold her?" she asked. Matt handed her the baby. "Oh, she's beautiful!" Lucy exclaimed. She and Kevin cooed over the baby for a few minutes, and then Sarah took her to clean her up.

"What are you going to name her?" asked Matt.

"Erin Nicole Kinkirk." Kevin replied. "Erin is after Eric. Erica was already taken, so Erin was the closest we could come up with."

"Did someone call for an ambulance?" Everyone in the room looked up to see two paramedics standing in the doorway.

"Yes." Matt answered. "But you're a little bit late."

The paramedic smiled. "I see that. Congratulations. Now let's get you to the hospital, ma'am."

As the paramedics placed Lucy on the stretcher and wheeled her out of the office, Matt went and filled everyone else in. "Mom and baby are doing just fine." he said. "They named her Erin Nicole Kinkirk, after Eric."


	10. Simon

A/N:Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. Keep the reviews coming!!

Disclaimer: I do not own 7th heaven or any of the characters in it except for the ones I made up.

* * *

Simon checked his watch for the hundredth time that day. "Simon, relax. You only have fifteen minutes left to wait." Matt laughed.

Simon glared at him. "I can't help it. I'm too excited. I've been waiting for this day for a long time." They were in a room at the church, getting ready for Simon and Rose's wedding. "It seems like this day is taking forever." he grumbled.

"It'll be over before you know it." Kevin assured him. "Are you nervous?"

"A little bit." Simon admitted. "I'm more excited than anything. I've been waiting a long time for this day."

Meanwhile, over in Lucy's office, the girls were getting ready. "Ruthie, I need your help. I can't get my hair to cooperate." said Sandy, who was going to be one of Rose's bridesmaids.

Ruthie walked over to her. "Here, give me your brush and pins. Let me see what I can do." Within just a few seconds, she had Sandy's hair swept up into a beautiful up do.

"Thank you so much, Ruthie? Where did you learn to do that?"

"Mary and Lucy taught me." she replied. "Here, Rose, hold still while I finish your hair."

"I'm trying to stay still!" Rose exclaimed.

Mary, who was also a bridesmaid, gave Rose a sympathetic smile. You're nervous, aren't you?" she asked.

Rose nodded. 'I don't know why. I mean, I should be excited. I'm marrying the man I love today."

"Every bride gets nervous on their wedding day." Lucy said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd better go on out there. The ceremony is supposed to start in a couple of minutes."

Finally, everyone was ready. Sandy walked down the aisle first, followed by Mary, and then Ruthie. The flower girl, Savannah, and the ring bearer, Charlie walked down next. Then, finally, it was time for the bride to enter. Everyone stood to their feet and gasped when Rose appeared in the doorway. All Simon could do was stare. Rose looked gorgeous. When she reached Simon, she took his arm, and they walked up the steps onto the platform.

As Lucy began the ceremony, Simon whispered, "You look beautiful, Rose."

Rose smiled. 'You look quite handsome yourself," she whispered back.

Suddenly it was time for the bride and groom to say their vows and exchange rings. When they had done so, Lucy said, "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Simon wrapped his arms around Rose and gave her a long kiss. When it was over, they turned and ran down the aisle. Once they excited the auditorium, Simon and Rose stopped. "Well, we finally did it." said Simon. "We're married."

"I can hardly believe it." Rose said. "Come on, we'd better go back in and great our guests." Hand in hand, Simon and Rose walked back into the auditorium.

After the ceremony, everyone went over to the Camden's house for the reception. After Simon and Rose had finished eating, Peter came up to them. "Congratulations, Simon, Rose."

"Thanks, Peter." said Simon. "I have a feeling that you and Ruthie will be the next to get married. When are you going to ask her, anyway?"

Peter looked around and then lowered his voice. "Actually, that's the real reason I came to talk to you. Would you two mind doing something for me. Peter leaned down and whispered his plan to Simon and Rose."

"I'm all for it." said Simon. "What about you, Rose?"

"Yes!' Rose said enthusiastically.

"Thank you guys so much!" Peter said.

Annie walked up to them then. "Simon, Rose, it's time for your first dance."

"Just a minute, Mom. I want to talk to the band leader, first." Simon replied.

Simon went over and whispered something to the band leader, who nodded and smiled. Simon then walked back, and, taking Roses hand, led her onto the dance floor as the band began to play "Grow Old with Me", which Simon and Rose had claimed as their song.

As their first dance ended, Simon kissed Rose and then nodded towards the band leader. The band then began to play "The Way You Look Tonight". Peter, who was standing beside the dance floor along with everyone else, turned to Ruthie, who was standing beside him, took her hand, and led her onto the dance floor. When they reached the center, he dropped down to one knee and said. "Ruthie, I love you very much. I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. Will you marry me?"

Ruthie started to cry. "Yes!" she shouted happily. "Yes, I will marry you." Peter stood up and he and Ruthie started to dance. When the song ended, much to the delight of everyone watching, the couple kissed, then hand in hand, walked off the dance floor. They were immediately surrounded by friends and family congratulating them.

The first people to reach them were Simon and Rose, who had stepped off the dance floor to let Peter and Ruthie have the spotlight. "Hey, Congratulations, Ruthie. I can't believe my baby sister is engaged!" Simon said, giving Ruthie a hug and kiss.

"I'm so happy for you!" exclaimed Rose, who took her turn giving her sister-in-law a hug and kiss once Simon was done.

Simon turned to Peter. "You better take care of my sister." he warned playfully. "If not, I might just have to hurt you."

Rose laughed. "Don't pay any attention to him, Peter. Simon wouldn't hurt a fly." she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Simon acted enraged. "Hey, now, that's going a little too far. First you steel the spotlight, now you steal my bride?" They all laughed.

"I do want to thank you both for being willing to let us steel your spotlight for a few minutes." Peter said seriously. "Today was supposed to be all about the two of you. You didn't have to let me propose to Ruthie today."

Ruthie turned to Simon and Rose. "Wait a minute! You two knew all about this?" When they both nodded, she asked, "How long have you guys been planning this?"

"We didn't find out until right before our first dance together." Simon insisted. "I promise."

Ruthie then turned to Peter. "So how long have you been planning this?"

Peter looked at her for a moment, saw how many people were waiting to congratulate them and said, "I'll tell you later, honey."

Annie was next to congratulate them. There were tears in her eyes as she said, "I'm so happy for you two. I can't believe that my youngest daughter is getting married! Your dad would be so happy if he could see you now. He always wanted you two to get together, you know."

Ruthie smiled as her own eyes filled with tears. "I know, Mom. Dad told me right before he died, and he wrote a letter to Peter, telling him how he felt about us."

After everyone had congratulated Peter and Ruthie, the dancing started back up again. Peter and Ruthie danced a couple more dances together, and then Kevin came up. "Ruthie, may I have the next dance?" he asked.

"Certainly." Ruthie answered. "Peter, do you mind?'

"Not at all, Sweetheart. Go have fun. I'll just sit this one out." Peter assured her.

Kevin led Ruthie onto the dance floor. After a couple of minutes of dancing, Kevin asked Ruthie, "Are you happy, Ruthie?"

Ruthie looked up at Kevin in surprise. "Of course I'm happy. Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to be sure. You seem so happy; I just wanted to make sure it wasn't just an act you were putting on because Eric wanted you and Peter to get together."

"Oh, Kevin." Ruthie said with a happy sigh. "Thank you for caring so much, but really, I couldn't be happier. I love Peter so much and I know that he loves me, too. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with him."

"I'm glad, Ruthie. I'm glad that you finally found a guy that loves you for who you are. I can tell that Peter adores you. I'm so happy for you."

"Kevin? Could I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Kevin was surprised. "What is it?"

"Well, I know that you got married right out of high school. Do you think you were ready? I guess what I'm trying to ask is, do you think I'm too young? I kind of got the impression tonight that some people thought we were too young to know true love."

"Ruthie, my circumstance was completely different. I thought that I had to get married because I thought I had gotten Mindy pregnant. I wasn't marrying for love like you and Peter are. But, in answer to your last question, no, I don't think you and Peter are too young. At first, when your relationship was moving so fast, I was upset. At that time I did think you were too young. But now, after watching you and Peter together, I see that you two really love each other. I see in you two the same kind of love that Lucy and I share that Matt and Sarah and Mary and Carlos share. The kind of love that your parents shared. That kind of love only comes along once, Ruthie. I think that you and Peter are mature enough to handle marriage at this age. But now I have a question for you. Why are you asking me this? Why not your mom or one of your siblings?

"Because I knew that you would give me your honest opinion. Anyways, in my eyes, you're no different than my brothers. You are one of my brothers. You have been since the day you and Lucy got married. Anyways, it would have been too awkward to ask one of them."

By this time the dancing had ended, and Ruthie and Kevin were sitting at a table, talking. Peter had started to come over, but when he saw how serious both Ruthie and Kevin looked, he decided against it. Instead, he went over to talk to Annie.

"Hi, Mom." Peter greeted her.

Annie smiled. "Peter, you don't know how happy it makes me to hear those words from your mouth. I had no idea you were planning on asking her tonight."

"I wanted it to be a surprise to everyone. Plus, I wasn't sure if Rose and Simon would want to share their day with us."

"Are you kidding? They were both ecstatic that you had chosen their wedding day to ask Ruthie."

Lucy walked up to them. "Hey Mom, Peter, have you seen Kevin? I haven't seen him for awhile. When I went inside to feed the baby he was dancing with Ruthie, but when I came back out, he was nowhere to be seen."

"He's talking with Ruthie. They're over by the basketball court." Peter answered.

"Thanks Peter. You know, at first I was kind of shocked at how fast you and Ruthie were moving. I thought you guys were too young. I mean, when you started dating, Ruthie wasn't even eighteen yet. But after watching you two for these past few months, I realized that you two were ready. I can hardly believe I'm saying this. I mean, I never figured that I would agree to anyone getting married at just eighteen and nineteen years old."

"Thanks, Lucy. If it puts your mind at ease, I want you to know that Ruthie and I plan on waiting over a year to get married. We wanted a long engagement. Neither of us feels that we're ready to get married quite yet." Peter said, surprising both Lucy and Annie

"I think that just shows even more how mature you both are, Peter. Most couples your age as much in love as the two of you are would want to get married as soon as possible." Annie said. "I know that Eric turned down several couples that wanted him to marry them because he thought they were too young and not yet mature enough."

Peter looked worried. "Would he be okay with Ruthie and me getting married at such a young age or would he want us to wait even longer?" he asked.

Annie thought about it for a minute, and then said, "I think he would approve. Why else would he encourage the two of you as much as he did? I think he knew that your relationship would move fast once it got started."

Ruthie and Kevin came walking up then. "Peter, could we go to the cemetery?" Ruthie asked. "I'd like to visit Dad's grave."

"Sure." Peter replied. "Why don't you run inside and get changed and get a jacket? It's getting kind of nippy out here, and I wouldn't want you to ruin your dress."

"Okay. I'll be right back." Ruthie gave Peter a quick kiss, and then ran inside the house.

Ruthie had finished getting changed and was just about to grab her jacket and walk out the door when the phone rang. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Snookie. I hear congratulations are in order." It was Robbie.

"Robbie! How did you find out?" Ruthie asked.

"Mary called me. She figured I would want to know. She was right." Mary and Carlos, along with Matt and Sarah, had left almost an hour ago.

"What all did Mary tell you?" Ruthie wondered.

"She told me everything. It sounds like Peter is one romantic guy."

"Oh, Robbie, he is. He's the sweetest, most romantic guy I know."

"How are you doing, Ruthie? I mean, I know that you're happy, but are you okay with Eric not being there?"

"I wish more than anything that Dad could be here, but I know that he wouldn't want me to be sad today. He'd want me to enjoy this day and be happy. I know that he's looking down for Heaven, smiling. Look, I hate to cut this short, but Peter's waiting to take me to the cemetery to visit Dad's grave."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later. Tell your family I said hi."

"Okay." Ruthie hung up, relived. She thought for sure that Robbie would have known that she wasn't telling the truth. As much as she wanted and tried to be happy, she just couldn't. She was happy that she and Peter were engaged, but every time she thought about her dad and how he should have been there, she felt like crying. Ruthie pulled herself together, put on a fake smile, and went outside to where Peter was waiting. "I'm ready now, Peter."

On the drive to the cemetery, Ruthie was very quite. Peter glanced over at her, concerned. "Are you okay, sweetie? You're awfully quite."

"I'm fine, Peter." Ruthie snapped. She immediately regretted it.

They finished the drive to the cemetery in silence. Once they arrived, Ruthie started to get out of the car, but Peter reached out and stopped her. "Ruthie, wait. Please, just tell me what's wrong."

Ruthie sighed. "Peter, I'd really rather not talk about it right now. I'm sorry." She got out of the car and walked to Eric's grave.

Peter sat in the car for a few more minutes, and then joined Ruthie at the gravesite. "Ruthie?" he asked softly. "Look at me, please." Ruthie obeyed. "I want you to know that if you ever do want to talk about it, I'm here for you. Even if it's the middle of the night, you can talk to me, okay?"

Ruthie nodded and rested her head on Peter's chest. "Thank you for being so understanding, Peter. It's not that I didn't want to talk to you about this, it's just that I don't think I can right now."

Peter kissed the top of her head. "Are you ready to go home or do you want to take a little longer?" he asked.

"I'm ready to go now." Ruthie said.

When Ruthie and Peter arrived back at the Camden house, Ruthie went straight up to her room. "What's wrong with Ruthie?" Annie asked Peter. "She didn't even stop to say hi."

"I'm not sure. She wouldn't tell me. All she said was that she'd tell me when she was ready." Peter replied.

Annie looked concerned. "The boys are in the kitchen making a snack. Could you keep an eye on them while I go talk to Ruthie?"

"Sure." Peter walked into the kitchen and Annie headed upstairs. When Annie got to Ruthie's bedroom, the door was closed. "Ruthie?" Annie asked, knocking. "It's Mom. Can I come in?"

Ruthie mumbled a muffled, "Come in."

Annie opened the door to find Ruthie lying on her bed, her face buried in her pillow. Annie crossed the room and sat down beside her. "Want to talk about it?" she asked. Ruthie shook her head no. Annie stood up. "Ruthie, you need to talk to someone. Now, there is one very worried young man sitting downstairs in the kitchen who would like nothing more than for you to tell him what's wrong." When Ruthie didn't reply, she went on. "If you're really serious about marrying Peter, then you need to learn to share your feelings with him. If you can't do that, then I guess you're not ready to get married." With that, Annie walked out of the room.

Ruthie sat up and thought about what Annie had said. After a few minutes she realized that her mother was right. She needed to tell Peter what she was feeling. It wasn't right for her to keep her feelings from him. Ruthie got off her bed and went over to check her appearance in the mirror. She looked a sight! Her face was streaked with tears, her eyes were red, and her hair was messed up. She started to fix herself up when she heard the front door open. She rushed downstairs, not caring how she looked. She had to talk to peter before he left. AS she came running down the stairs, she almost ran into Annie. "Mom, where's Peter?" she asked breathlessly.

"He just went outside to leave. If you hurry you might be able to catch him before he leaves." Annie replied.

"Thanks, Mom." Ruthie called over her shoulder as she rushed out the door. As she got outside, Peter had just pulled out of the driveway and was driving down the road. She yelled, but he couldn't hear her. Ruthie rushed back inside. "Mom, where are my keys?" she yelled, frantically searching.

"Here they are." Annie said, handing them to her. "Remember that Chandler lives in the garage apartment and is probably asleep. Try not to make to much noise."

"I won't. Thanks, Mom, for everything." Ruthie gave Annie a quick hug and then rushed out the door.

When Ruthie got to the garage, even though she tried her best to be quiet, Chandler came down the stairs. When he saw how Ruthie looked, he asked, concerned, "Ruthie, are you okay?"

Ruthie jumped. "Oh, Chandler, you scared me. I'm sorry I woke you."

Chandler walked over to her. "I wasn't asleep yet. You didn't answer my question. Are you okay?"

Ruthie sighed. "I'm okay. Thanks."

Chandler laid a hand on Ruthie's shoulder. "You don't look okay. Where were you going in such a hurry, anyway?"

"I was going over to Peter's. I need to apologize to him."

"Forgive me for prying, but why do you need to apologize? What happened?"

"Something has been bugging me all night, and when Peter asked me what was wrong, I wouldn't tell him. I got mad at him instead."

"Did he get mad at you, too?"

"No, he didn't. I don't know how he could have been so patient with me. All he did was say that when I was ready to talk, to let him know, no matter what time it was. I can't believe I treated him how I did!" Ruthie looked like she was ready to cry again.

"Look, Ruthie, why don't you calm down before you go over there? It's not going to help if you're an emotional wreck when you go over there. You need to be calm and thinking clearly. Why don't you come up to my apartment, fix yourself up, and calm down, okay? Roxanne has some makeup and hair stuff here, I'm sure she won't mind if you use them."

Ruthie nodded. "Okay. I guess I must look a sight. Thanks, Chandler."

Chandler smiled. "No problem. It's the least I can do, after your family has been so kind to me."

When Ruthie came out of the bathroom after getting fixed up, Chandler was sitting on the couch, reading. Ruthie went up to him. "Chandler, thank you for everything that you did for me. I'm glad that you weren't asleep yet, otherwise I would have gone over to Peter's a wreck and a looking a mess. Could I ask you something?"

Chandler nodded. "Sure. What is it?"

"Well, I've been thinking, and I still need to talk it over with Peter, but, would you be willing to marry Peter and me?"

Chandler looked shocked. "Yes, I would, but don't you want Lucy to do it?"

Ruthie sighed. "I don't think I could handle seeing Lucy marry Peter and me when my whole life I've envisioned Dad standing up there, marrying me to the man of my dreams. Besides, I've always wanted Lucy to be my maid of honor, and she can't very well do that if she's officiating the ceremony, now can she?"

Chandler laughed. "No, I guess not. I would be honored to perform the ceremony, Ruthie, but I want you to do a few things first."

"What are they?" asked Ruthie.

"First, talk it over with Peter. See how he feels about it. Second, talk it over with Lucy. I don't want to cause any bad feelings between the two of you. Lastly, talk it over with your mom. Your wedding day is going to be hard on her, too, you know. Maybe she'd feel better if, since your dad isn't here to marry you, Lucy did it, rather than me. Will you do that?"

Ruthie nodded. "I'll get back to you on what they all say about it." She looked at her watch. I'd better let you get to bed. If I remember correctly, you're preaching tomorrow. Anyways, I'd like to get over to Peter's before it gets too much later."

Chandler walked her to the stairs. "See you at church tomorrow, Ruthie."

"Okay, bye Chandler." Ruthie went down the stairs, got in the van, and drove to Peter's apartment. Once there she went up to the door, took a deep breath, then knocked. Peter opened the door almost immediately.

"Ruthie. I was hoping that you'd come. I need to apologize to you." Peter said.

Ruthie was shocked. "Peter, I came over here to apologize to you. You have nothing to apologize about."

Peter shook his head. "You're wrong. I shouldn't have pressed you to talk to me when you didn't want to. That was wrong of me. I'm sorry."

"Oh, Peter, you were right in pressing me. If we're going to be husband and wife, we need to learn to share our feelings with each other, not hide them like I was doing. I was acting childish and silly. I hope you'll forgive me."

Peter pulled her into his arms. "Of course I forgive you, sweetie. How could I not forgive you?" He gave her a kiss.

"There's something else that I need to ask you, too, Peter."

"What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if, maybe, instead of Lucy marrying us, Chandler could marry us."

Peter was surprised. "Are you sure? I mean, if that's what you want, it's fine with me, but why?

"Peter, every time I dreamed about my wedding, I dreamed that Dad was standing at the front of the church watching me walk down the aisle, waiting to marry me to the man of my dreams. He's not going to be there to do that, and if I see Lucy standing where Dad should be, I'm not sure I could handle it. In my dream, Lucy was always the made of honor, and I'd like her to fulfill that role in real life, too."

"Anything you want is fine with me, Ruthie. I know that as happy as we're going to be, it's still going to be a hard day for you, especially. I want to do anything I can to make it easier."

"Thanks you, Peter. As much as I'd love to stay and talk to you longer, I'd better get home before Mom starts to worry." Ruthie and Peter stood up and started walking towards the door. "Are you coming over for dinner tomorrow?" Ruthie asked.

"Actually, I was hoping that maybe you and I could go someplace by ourselves for dinner. You still haven't told me what's bothering you."

"Oh no! That was the whole reason I came over here. I can't believe I forgot!" Ruthie exclaimed

Peter laughed. "That just shows how tired you are. Go home and go to bed. I'll pick you up for church tomorrow, then after church we can come over here and talk, if that's okay with you."

"That's fine. I'll see you in the morning, then." She started to leave, but Peter stopped her.

"Wait, Ruthie. Aren't you forgetting something?" Ruthie looked puzzled. Peter leaned down and gave her a kiss. "There. Now you can go. Be careful, sweetheart."

Ruthie smiled. 'I will be. Goodnight, peter. I love you."

"I love you too. Now go home and go to bed. You're exhausted."

True to his word, the next day after church, Peter took Ruthie to his apartment. After they had eaten, Peter said, "Okay, now tell me what's bothering you."

"Okay," said Ruthie, "but I have to worn you, I might cry."

"Ruthie, you know tears don't bother me. Now tell me what's wrong, please?"

"I was upset that Dad wasn't there to see you propose to me last night. He was there when Lucy got engaged, and I just always figured that he's be there when I got engaged, too, or he'd at least be someplace nearby where I could tell him and show him my ring. I miss him so much, Peter. I try not to let it get to me, but I can't help it. I want him back." By this time Ruthie was in tears.

"Oh, Sweetheart, I know you miss him. It's only natural for you to want him to be there to see all these important events in your life. You and your dad were so close; I can't even imagine how hard it must be for you. Just know that I'm here to help you through this, okay? I know that the months leading up to the wedding and the wedding itself will bed hard, so if there's anything I can do to make it easier, just let me know." He wiped at the tears on Ruthie's face. "Now, come on. Stop crying. Let's go for a walk, and then I'll take you home."

When Ruthie got home, she called Lucy.

"Hello?" Kevin answered the phone.

"Hey Kevin, its Ruthie."

"Hey, Ruthie. What's up?"

"I need to talk to Lucy. Would it be okay if I came over?"

"Sure. I'll let Lucy know. Do you want Savannah, Erin, and I to disappear for a little while?"

"If you don't mind, that would be wonderful."

"Okay. I'll see you in a couple of minutes." Kevin hung up. Ruthie grinned. The Camden habit of not saying goodbye when talking on the phone had finally rubbed off on him.

Five minutes later, she was sitting in Lucy's living room, talking to her. "Lucy, I was wondering something."

"It's about the wedding, isn't it?" Lucy guessed.

Ruthie nodded. "I was wondering if you would mind being my maid of honor instead of officiating the service."

"I don't mind at all. As a matter of fact, I was going to suggest that myself. I don't think I could handle standing where Dad should be standing; doing what he should be here to do. It's hard enough every Sunday to get up and preach and do everything that Dad did. Don't tell anyone else, Ruthie, but Kevin and I have been talking about moving."

"What?" asked Ruthie, shocked.

"Nothing is for sure yet, Ruthie. We've just been talking about it. I haven't even applied anywhere. In fact, more than likely, we won't move. As hard as it is for me to do what Dad should be doing, I don't think I could leave right now."

"If you did, it would break Mom's heart. She just got Matt and Mary back, and she's so happy that all her children are nearby again. She misses Dad so much. I hear her crying in her room some nights, and I know that it's because she misses Dad. She puts on a brave front, but inside she's hurting."

Lucy wasn't surprised. "I could tell she was still hurting. I think that's part of the reason she didn't want to dance at your birthday party. She was thinking about Dad."

Kevin, who had ended up leaving with the kids before Ruthie go there, walked in then, carrying Erin and holding Savannah's hand. "I hope I didn't come back too early." he said, looking between the two sisters.

"No, Kevin, you're fine. I need to get going anyways." Ruthie said, getting up to leave. "I'll see you guys later."

When Ruthie got back home, she went looking for Annie. She finally found her in Ruthie's old room, looking through photo albums. "Mom, could I talk to you?" Ruthie asked, shutting the door and sitting down on the bed.

Annie looked up. "Sure. Is something wrong?"

"No, not really. I just need to ask you something about the wedding."

"Okay, what is it?" Annie got up off the floor where she had been sitting and sat down on the bed beside Ruthie.

"Well, I was wondering, would you be too upset if Lucy didn't marry Peter and me?"

"No, I wouldn't, but why?"

"Well, I'd much rather have Lucy as my made of honor and neither of us are comfortable with her doing what Dad should be doing. I already asked Peter, and he said it was okay with him."

"What about Chandler? Have you asked him yet?"

"Yes, I have. He said he'd be glad to as long as it was okay with you, Peter, and Lucy."

"Well, I'm okay with it."

"Thanks, Mom." Ruthie looked down at the open picture albums on the floor. "What are you looking at?"

Annie smiled. "Photos of you when you were little. I got to thinking about how you grew up so fast, so I decided to look at some pictures to remind myself that you really were little at one time. Just being sentimental, I guess."

Ruthie grinned. "Well, I'll leave you in peace to continue being sentimental. I'm going over to Chandler's to let him know."


	11. Ruthie

A/N: Sorry for such a long wait. This chapter took forever to write, so I made up for it and made it extra long! I've have the next chapter halfway completed, so I'm going to try to get it up before the weekend. That may or may not be the last chapter, I haven't decided yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own 7th heaven or any of the characters. I also do not own any of the songs mentioned in this chapter. I wrote the wedding vows mtself, so if they bear any likeness to vows that you've written, it's just coincidence.

* * *

"Surprise!"

Ruthie looked around the room in shock. Her mom, Lucy, Mary, Sarah, Rose, and Roxanne were all in the living room along with several ladies from the church, and Peter's mom, Paris. The room was filled with presents and wedding stuff. "A surprise bridal shower! How in the world did you pull this off?" Ruthie asked in amazement.

"It wasn't easy. You came close to finding out about it this morning when you came over to my house. And offered to change Erin's diaper." Lucy said.

"Really?" asked Ruthie. "How?"

"I had just moved all the decorations to her room that morning. If I had let you change her diaper you would have seen them."

"I can't believe that all of you have pulled off two surprise parties in less than a year! I never thought that would happen."

"Well, it really hasn't been that hard. You have been spending a lot of time with Peter recently, so you are not home that much. It makes it much easier to plan a surprise party with you gone so much of the time." Annie said.

Ruthie hung her head, feeling somewhat guilty. "Sorry. I guess I should spend some more time at home, shouldn't I?"

"Oh, Ruthie I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty. I really don't mind you being gone. You're going to be married soon, it's right for you to be spending time with Peter. Now come on, let's get this party started!"

Later that night, Kevin and Lucy had just finished putting the kids to bed and were in their room getting ready for bed themselves. "Lucy, can I talk to you?" Kevin asked.

Lucy looked up, concern evident on her face. "Sure, what's wrong, Kevin?"

Kevin was quick to reassure her. "Nothing's wrong, Luce. I just wanted to talk to you about something."

Lucy looked visibly relieved. "Okay, what's up?"

"Well, I've been doing some thinking recently. Now before I say anything else, I don't want you to think that I don't like spending time with the kids, but-"

Lucy interrupted him. "Let me guess. You want to get a job again. A real job."

"Well, yes, but-"

Lucy cut him off again. "I don't have a single problem with that. I've actually been waiting for you to say something. I could tell that you missed working outside of the home."

Kevin looked surprised. "Was it that evident? I didn't think that anyone else knew."

"Kevin, come on. We've been married for almost 8 years now. Don't you think I can tell by now when something's up with you? I don't have a problem with it. I do have a couple of questions, though."

"Okay. What are they?"

"What are you going to do and when are you going to start."

"Well, I've been talking to Sergeant Michael's and he said hat they have an opening for a police officer in the department. As a matter of fact, he approached me and asked if I'd be willing to come back. At first I said no, but then I got to thinking about it, and I called him back and asked him to give me some time. As far as when, I'm not sure yet."

"Do you know who your partner would be?"

Kevin laughed. "Actually, that's the whole reason Sergeant Michael's called me. He said that he had an officer transfer to Glenn Oak Police Department, and that person requested me as their partner. You'll never guess who it was."

"Who?"

"Roxanne."

"Really? Roxanne requested you as her partner?"

"Yes. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"No. As a matter of fact, there's no one else that I'd rather you be partners with than Roxanne. I know I can depend on her to keep you safe." Lucy said, trying to hold back tears, but failing. "It'll make it easier to adjust to being a policeman's wife again."

Kevin pulled Lucy into a hug. "Don't worry. I'll be safe when I'm out there. I promise." He wiped her tears away with his hand. "I'll call Sergeant Michael's in the morning and let him know my decision. Come on, let's go to bed."

Over at the Camden house, Annie and Ruthie were sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee and talking. "Mom, are you sure that my being gone so much doesn't bug you?" Ruthie asked. "Tell me the truth, please."

"Ruthie, it really doesn't bother me. At first it did, but then I realized that I was being selfish. Peter's the man that you've chosen to spend the rest of your life with. You need to spend time with him. It wouldn't be right or me to keep you around here all the time. Pretty soon, you'll be getting married. As much as I would love for you to spend more time here, you need to be with Peter." Annie reassured her.

"How about a compromise, then? Peter and I will spend more time here, so you can still spend time with me, with both of us, actually. I'll set aside one day a week between now and the wedding to spend time with just you. I miss spending time with you, like I did when I was younger. We really haven't had that much time together since I came home from Scotland."

"That sounds fine with me. Have you two decided yet if you're going to Scotland on your honeymoon?"

"Yes, we are. We're going to spend a couple of days at a cabin somewhere, and then we'll leave for Scotland, where Peter assures me that he has the perfect place picked out for us."

"Do you have any desire to go back there to live?"

"You know, Mom, when I first came home I was determined that I would go back to Scotland to live as soon as possible. But after Dad died, that changed. I wanted more than anything to be around you and the rest of my family. I still want that. Now that Peter and I are engaged, I don't think I'll be going back to live in Scotland. Even if I hadn't of met Peter, I don't think I would have gone back. I'm not the same girl who left Scotland almost a year ago. So, no, I don't have any desire to live in Scotland."

"I'm glad. I do want you to know, though, that if you did want to go live in Scotland, I wouldn't have any objections. As much as I'd like to keep you all around, I want you to go wherever you'll be happy." Annie looked at the clock. "It's almost midnight! Come on, let's go to bed."

The next morning, Ruthie woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Ruthie, it's Mary. I was wondering if you could baby sit the kids today after the service. Carlos and I have something we have to do."

Ruthie sat up in bed and looked at the clock. She had less than an hour to get ready before church! She scrambled out of bed. "Sure, Mary, that'll be fine. I've got to go now." She hung up the phone and rushed around her room trying to get ready for church. A knock sounded on the door. "Who is it?" she called.

"Ruthie, it's David. Can I come in?" David sounded upset.

"Sure come on in." Ruthie replied. When David came in to the room, she could see that he wasn't upset, but sick.

"Ruthie, I don't feel good. Do I have to go to church?"

Ruthie went over and wrapped him in a hug. "No, you don't have to go to church. Come on, let's get you back in bed. Does Mom know?"

David nodded. "She's not feeling good, either. She's sleeping."

"What about Sam? Is he feeling okay?' she asked as they made their way to the twins' room.

"I think so." Sam replied. Then his face got very pale. "Ruthie, I think I'm going to throw up!" he exclaimed, then proceeded to do so, right there in the hallway. He then started to cry.

"Shh, it's okay. I'll clean it up. Don't worry about it. Just go back and get in bed." David nodded and started to obey, but then Ruthie said, "Send Sam out here, too, okay?" David nodded again and did as Ruthie said. A couple of minutes later, Sam was standing out in the hallway. He looked almost as pale as David.

"Ruthie, I don't feel good, either." he said.

Ruthie sighed. This was going to be a long day. "Okay, buddy. Go back and get in bed. I'll be in as soon as I'm done cleaning this up." she said, gesturing towards where Sam had gotten sick. Once Ruthie had finished cleaning up, she went in and checked on the twins. Both were sound asleep. She then went and checked on Annie. "Mom?" she whispered, knocking softly on the door to the bedroom. When she didn't get an answer, she opened it. Annie, too, was asleep. Ruthie closed the door. She then looked at the clock. There was only a half hour left before church started. "I should probably let someone know we're not going to be there. I have to tell Mary that I can't baby sit this afternoon, too." Ruthie said to herself. She decided to go over to the garage apartment and see if Chandler was still there. When she knocked on the door, it was opened almost immediately by Chandler.

"Hey Ruthie, what's up?" Chandler asked.

"Mom and the twins are sick, so we're not going to be at church today. I just figured I should let someone know so no one would worry."

Chandler looked concerned. "What's wrong with them?"

"I think it's the flu." Ruthie replied.

"Do you want me to have one of your sisters come over to help?"

"No, that's okay. I can handle it. I feel fine."

"Okay. Don't get too worn out trying to take care of them or you'll end up sick yourself. Let me know if you need any help."

"Okay, I will. Thanks." Ruthie started to leave, then remembered something. "Can you tell Mary that I can't baby sit this afternoon? They've probably left for church already."

"Sure. Anything else?"

"No, I think that's it. Thanks Chandler!" Ruthie went back to the house. She had just started fixing herself some breakfast when she heard Sam calling her from upstairs. She hurried upstairs and found Sam sitting in his bed shivering.

"Ruthie, I'm cold and I got sick." Sam said when he saw Ruthie.

Ruthie looked at Sam's bed. Sure enough, he had gotten sick all over the sheets and blankets. She sighed. "Okay, Sam. Why don't you crawl in bed with David while I change your sheets, okay?" Sam nodded. When Ruthie finished, he was sound asleep, so she picked him up and moved him to his bed. She then left the twins' room, and went to her Annie's room to check on her.

When she pushed open to the door to her mom's room, she saw that Annie was awake. "Hi, Mom. How are you feeling?" Ruthie asked, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I'm feeling better. How are the boys?" Annie tried to sit up, but Ruthie stopped her.

"No, Mom, you need to rest. The boys are sleeping right now. I took their temperatures, they're not too high." Ruthie replied. Just then one of the twins called her. Ruthie stood up, kissed her mom, then went to Sam and David's room to see what they needed her for.

When she walked into the twins room, she groaned in dismay. Both boys had gotten sick more than once while she was gone, and they, along with all of their bedding, were now filthy. "Okay, boys, let's get you to the bathroom and get you cleaned up. The you can go lay down in my room while I clean this mess up. Okay?" Sam and David both nodded.

Twenty minutes later, the twins were laying in Ruthie's bed sound asleep, and Ruthie had started cleaning up the mess. She was about halfway done when she started to not feel so good herself. She rushed to the bathroom, and barely made it to the toilet before she threw up. "Oh, man." she groaned. "I can't get sick!" She returned to the boys' room and, after four more hurried trips to the bathroom, was finally done. She peeked in on the boys, saw that they were still asleep, then went back to Annie's room.

Annie was still awake when ruthie entered. 'What did Sam and David want?" inquired Annie.

"They had both gotten sick. It was all over the place! I had to clean up them and their mess. Right now they're sleeping in my room." Ruthie answered.

Annie looked at her. "Are you sure you feel okay? You look kind of pale?"

"I feel fine." Ruthie lied. She knew that if she admitted she was sick, Annie would insist on taking care of the boys and Ruthie laying down. That was the last thing her mom needed to do. "Get some sleep. I'll be back later to check on you." As soon as Ruthie closed the door to her mom's room she ran for the bathroom again. When she was finished getting sick, she went downstairs to the kitchen and put some soup on. She figured that when Sam and David woke up, they would be hungry. She was right. Not even five minutes later, the boys came stumbling into the kitchen, still rubbing sleep from their eyes, complaining they were hungry. Ruthie sat them both down at the table and gave them each a bowl of soup. She thought about dishing up a bowl for herself, but she didn't think she could keep it down.

Ruthie had just gotten Sam and David back in bed and asleep when the doorbell rang. She ran down the stairs to open the door before anyone woke up. Chandler was at the door, along with Roxanne. "Hi Ruthie. We just wanted to check on you guys and see how your mom and the boys were doing."

"Hi Chandler, Roxanne. They all seem to be doing a little better. Thanks for stopping by." Ruthie started to shut the door, hoping that Roxanne and Chandler wouldn't see that she was sick, too.

"Ruthie, wait." Chandler stopped the door from closing and pushed it back open. "What about you? How are you feeling? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine. Just a little tired." Just then David called for her, effectively stopping any more questions. "I've got to go. See you guys later." She shut the door and turned to go back up the stairs. She was almost to the top step when she got very dizzy. She reached out to the wall to steady herself, but missed. She remembered right before she passed out that she had never had a chance to eat the breakfast she had fixed for herself that morning.

Chandler and Roxanne had just started back to the garage apartment when they heard a thud from the Camden's house. Chandler ran up to the door and knocked. "Ruthie? Is everything okay?" When he didn't hear and answer he got worried. "Ruthie? Answer me! Are you okay?" Still not hearing an answer, he opened the door and ran inside, Roxanne on his heels. When he was almost to the bottom of the stairs he stopped so suddenly that Roxanne barely avoided running into him. She looked around Chandler and gasped at what she saw. Ruthie was laying at the bottom of the stairs, unconscious and bleeding.

Roxanne kneeled down beside Ruthie and checked her over to try and see where the blood was coming from. Chandler had just grabbed the phone when they heard a gasp. Annie was standing on the stairs, staring at Ruthie. She had come to see what the thump was. "Ruthie!" she cried.

Chandler went over to her. "It's okay, Annie. I'm sure she'll be just fine. She just took a little fall, that's all." He put a comforting arm around her, still holding the phone in his other hand. "I'm going to call for an ambulance, though, okay? I think she should go to the hospital and get checked out, just to be on the safe side. When Annie nodded, he started dialing. When he had finished calling for a squad, he hung up and handed the phone to Annie. "Here, why don't you call everyone? I'm sure they'll want to know what's going on. You might want to start with Peter."

Annie took the phone and dialed Peter's number. When he picked up, she said, "Peter, this is Annie. You need to come over. Ruthie fell, and she's unconscious." She listened for a moment. "She seems to be okay other then a little bit of bleeding from a cut. Chandler called a squad." Another pause. "Okay, I'll see you then." As soon as she got off the phone with Peter, she called Matt. "Matt? This is Mom. Ruthie fell down the stairs. She's unconscious and bleeding a little bit. Chandler already called a squad." She listened to Matt for a few seconds, then said, "Why don't you meet us at the hospital? By the time you get here, the squad will probably already have taken her there." She listened again. "Would you? Thanks, that'll make it easier on me." She hung up and turned to Chandler, who by know had joined Roxanne on the floor beside Ruthie. Peter's going to meet us at the hospital, and so is Matt. Matt said he'd call everyone else."

"Okay. Why don't you go out front and meet the squad, Annie?" Roxanne suggested.

Annie did as suggested. She had only been out there a couple of minutes when the squad arrived. "She's inside, by the stairs!" Annie called. She turned to follow them in, but stopped when she saw Kevin's car screech to a halt just outside of the Camden house. Kevin jumped out and ran up to her. "Kevin! What are you doing here?"

"We still have a police scanner at the house from when I was a cop. I heard an ambulance called here, and figured I better see what was wrong. Who is it?" he asked, as they ran towards the door.

"Ruthie. She fell down the stairs. She's unconscious and bleeding." Annie replied. They were now inside the house, and were watching as the paramedics worked on Ruthie. When Roxanne saw Kevin, she nudged Chandler and together they walked over to where Annie and Kevin were standing.

"She's bleeding from a cut on her arm, and she has a bump on her head, but other than that she seems to be okay. The paramedics think she passed out, which caused her to fall." Roxanne filled Annie and Kevin in on Ruthie's condition.

"Why did she pass out?" Kevin wondered, turning to Annie for an answer.

"I don't know. Annie replied, worriedly. "Roxanne, Chandler, do you know?" They both shook their heads.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Camden?" one of the paramedics walked up to where the group was standing. "We're getting ready to transport your daughter to the hospital. Do you want to ride in the ambulance?"

Annie shook her head. "No, I'll drive. How is she?"

"Well, her blood sugar is low, which is apparently what caused her to pass out. Thankfully, she didn't break anything in the fall, she just has a cut on her arm. She did get a bump on the head, but it doesn't appear to be a concussion."

Annie looked relieved. "Thank you so much." she said. The paramedic went to join his partner in the ambulance while Annie, Kevin, and Chandler made their way outside and got in their cars. Roxanne had agreed to stay with the Sam and David.

When they arrived at the hospital, Peter was waiting, along with Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon, and Rose. Peter ran up to Annie as soon as he saw her. "How's Ruthie?" he asked, looking very concerned.

Annie saw everyone else standing across the room, so she said, "Let's go back over by the others, and I'll tell everyone at once." When they reached the others, Annie told them what had happened and what the paramedic had said. They were all relieved.

"Lucy, where are Savannah and Erin?" Kevin asked.

"The neighbor lady agreed to watch them when I told her what had happened." Lucy replied. "I wanted to be here, especially since Matt didn't know how bad it was when he called."

Just then a doctor walked into the waiting room. "Mrs. Camden?" he said.

Annie walked over to him. "I'm Mrs. Camden." she replied. "How's Ruthie?"

'Your daughter is doing fine. I checked her over, stitched up the cut on her arm, and gave her something to help raise her blood sugar. She's getting dressed now. You can take her home when she's done. She does seem to have a flu virus, which may have contributed to her passing out. I would suggest that you take her home and get her to bed."

"I'll do that. Thank you, Doctor." Annie went back to the others. "The cut on Ruthie's arm had to be stitched up, but other than that she's okay except for having the flu. She's getting dressed now, then I'll be taking her home, so the rest of you can go ahead and go home."

"You really need someone to go home with you. You're in no condition to be taking care of Ruthie or the twins right now, Mom." Matt said.

"It's okay, Matt. Roxanne and I will help. The rest of you can go back to your homes. There's no need for someone else to come over when Roxanne and I live right there." Chandler explained.

"I'll come help, too." Peter said. "Believe me, it's not easy to take care of Sam and David when they're sick. I babysat them once when they had the chicken pox, and they were horrible. Ruthie hates being sick, so she's not going to be a very good patient, either."

It was two months later, and everyone was well at the Camden house again. It was just two months until Ruthie and Peter's wedding, and it was crazy at the Camdens. Sarah, Mary, Lucy, and Rose were over almost every day to help with wedding plans. However, on this particular Saturday, no one was thinking about wedding plans, at least not Ruthie's wedding plans. It was the day of Chandler and Roxanne's wedding, and all of the girls were over at the Kinkirks, helping Roxanne get ready. They had originally planned on having Roxanne get ready at the Camden's, but had decided that was just to close to the garage apartment, where Chandler had planned on getting ready. They turned the Camden's house over to the guys, and had chosen Lucy's house. Ruthie would be the maid of honor, Mary and Rose bridesmaids, and Matt, and Simon would be groomsmen. Kevin would be doing double duty, as he was going to walk Roxanne down the aisle and also perform the duties of the best man.

Roxanne had originally planned on her father walking her down the aisle, but six months before the wedding, he had suffered a massive heart attack and had died, so Roxanne decided that she wanted Kevin, who was once again her partner after returning to the police force to walk her down the aisle. He had readily agreed. Since Chandler had wanted Kevin to be his best man, they had arranged it so Kevin could do both.

"Ruthie, I need help with Roxanne's hair. You worked wonders with my hair on my wedding day, see what you can do with Roxanne's hair. I just can't get it to stay." Rose was getting frustrated.

Ruthie laughed as she made her way over to Roxanne and Rose. "Relax, Rose. I'll see what I can do." She worked with Roxanne's hair for a little, and when she was done, Roxanne's hair looked beautiful. Ruthie had curled it, and then swept it up into an updo, leaving a few ringlets down to frame Roxanne's face. Ruthie stepped back. "There. How does that look?"

Roxanne looked in the mirror. "Oh, Ruthie, thank you! It looks like it was done by a professional. I love it! Can you do everyone else's hair, too?" Ruthie agreed, and set to work. When she was finished, everyone's hair looked as gorgeous as Roxanne's. "Everyone's hair looks great, Ruthie, but who's going to do yours?" Roxanne asked.

"Oh, it's okay. I can do my own hair." She fooled with her hair for a couple of minutes, and when she was finished, it looked as beautiful as everyone else's.

"Wow, Ruthie, I think you missed your true calling. You should have been a hairdresser!" Roxanne exclaimed.

Ruthie laughed. "No thank you. I don't mind doing hair, but it's definitely not something I'd want to do every day. Besides, I'm perfectly happy being a teacher." Ruthie had taken some college course along with her highschool courses while she was in Scotland, and when she came home she had continued the college courses. In just two weeks, she would be graduating from college as an elementary education major.

"Are you girls ready yet? We have to leave in fifteen minutes!" Annie said, peeking in the door.

"Yeah, we're ready." Lucy replied. They all headed outside and got in the cars to go to the church. "Are you nervous?" Lucy asked Roxanne.

"Am I nervous?! Of course I'm nervous! Would I be normal if I wasn't nervous?" Roxanne replied.

Lucy smiled. "No, I guess not. Don't worry, everything will go just fine."

Lucy turned out to be right. Everything did go fine, and at the end of the day Mr. and Mrs. Chandler Hampton were on their way to their honeymoon.

The wedding reception had been at the Camden house, so when the wedding was over, all of the Camdens, Kinkirks, and Riveras stayed to help clean up. Also helping with the cleanup were Peter and Robbie. Ruthie was just cleaning off the last table when Peter snuck up behind her. "Hi, honey." he said.

Ruthie jumped and spun around. "Peter! Don't scare me like that again!" she exclaimed.

Peter grinned. "Sorry. You know, I was thinking today, during the wedding. In just a couple of months that will be you and me up there, saying our vows and getting married."

"I know. It can't come soon enough for me!" Ruthie said excitedly. "I can't wait to finally be Mrs. Peter Petrowski."

Peter got a mischievous look in his eyes. "Why don't we just elope now? Then we wouldn't have to wait."

"Peter Petrowski! You better not have said what I thought you said!" Annie said, surprising both Ruthie and Peter. She pretended to be mad. "You better not be putting any ideas about elopement into my daughter's head!"

Peter and Ruthie laughed. "Don't worry, Mom. I know better than to elope. Especially after how you reacted when you found put that Matt and Sarah had eloped." Ruthie kidded her mom. "Anyways, I want a real wedding. Even if it does mean that I have to wait two more months."

Annie smiled. "I know. Actually, the real reason I came over is to tell you guys that everything's all cleaned up. Thanks so much for your help, Peter."

"Your welcome, Annie. I really don't mind helping to clean up. It gives me more time to spend with Ruthie."

Annie smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way, Peter. There will be times after you two are married, I'm sure, when you have so much stuff to do that you just don't have time to spend together. At times like that, you can spend time with each other by working on those things together. It might not be want you'd like to be doing while spending time with each other, but sometimes that's the only time you get. It's good that you learn that now."

"IS that why you and Dad would work on projects together?" Ruthie asked. "I always thought it was to get them done faster."

"Well, we did get them done faster, but mainly it was to spend time with each other. With Eric being a minister, you never knew when your next chance to spend time together was. That was something that we learned very early on in our marriage." Annie replied. "Now come on, let's go to bed. Peter, you have permission from Chandler and Roxanne to stay in the garage apartment as often as you'd like while they're gone."

The two months left before Ruthie's wedding were very busy, which made them go faster. Before anyone knew it, the day of Ruthie's wedding had arrived.

Ruthie woke up to her alarm going off. She turned it off, yawned, and stretched. She lay in bed for a few more minutes. Suddenly she sat straight up in bed. She was getting married today! She jumped out of bed, changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and ran downstairs. Annie was already down there, fixing breakfast. She turned when she heard Ruthie walk into the kitchen. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Annie asked.

"I'm getting married today!" Ruthie shouted excitedly. "Mom, I'm really getting married today. I can't believe it."

Annie smiled. "Calm down, Ruthie. You'll wake the boys up. Now, sit down and eat some breakfast. Everyone will be arriving shortly.

Ruthie had just sat down and started eating when Sam and David came bounding into the kitchen. "Ruthie!" they shouted. "You're getting married today!" They both gave her a big hug and then started dancing around the kitchen chanting, "Ruthie's getting married today! Ruthie's getting married today!"

Ruthie and Annie looked at each other, then started laughing. Ruthie jumped up from the table and joined them, only her chant was, "I'm getting married today! I'm getting married today!" This made Annie laugh all the harder, but, within a few minutes, she had joined them in dancing around the kitchen.

They had been doing this for about five minutes when Lucy and Kevin walked in. "What in the world is going on in here?" asked Kevin.

Ruthie danced up to Kevin and Lucy and threw her arms around them. "I'm getting married today!": she exclaimed.

Kevin and Lucy both laughed. "really?" teased Kevin. "I thought it was next Saturday that you were getting married."

"Kevin! That's not funny!" exclaimed Lucy. She hugged Ruthie back. "So, are you ready?" she asked.

"Am I ever! I thought this day would never get here! I'm going to marry Peter today!" Ruthie exclaimed

Lucy turned back to Kevin. "Go on, get out of here. This is women's territory now."

Kevin backed away, his hands up in the air. "Okay, okay," he laughed. "I'm leaving." He turned to leave when Ruthie called to him.

"Kevin! Wait! I need to ask you something first."

Kevin turned back to Ruthie. "What is it?"

Ruthie looked pointedly at Annie, Lucy, and the twins. They just ignored her. "Come on, let's go outside, then I'll tell you." she told Kevin.

Kevin and Ruthie walked outside. "I've been thinking. Dad's not here to dance with me like he did with Lucy at her wedding. Would you do me the honor of dancing with me for the Father-Daughter dance?"

Kevin was surprised. "are you sure? I mean, I now how hard it's going to be without Dad here. You could just not have a Father-Daughter dance."

Ruthie crossed her arms stubbornly. "I want one. Please, Kevin? You're the closest thing that I have to a Dad right now."

"What about Matt or Simon? Why not have one of them dance with you? Or even Carlos for that matter." Kevin asked

"Because I'm close to Matt and Simon, but they're more like my friends than they are father figures. And as for Carlos, I'm a lot closer to you. I mean, I was only about 10 when you married Lucy, and we've become really close. Please?" Ruthie begged.

"Okay, I give up. I'll dance with you. What are we going to dace to?"

Ruthie grinned. "That's going to be a surprise." she said.

Kevin left then, and Ruthie went back inside. Sarah, Mary, Rose, and Roxanne had arrived while Ruthie was outside, and they, along with Annie and Lucy, looked expectantly at Ruthie, who just ignored them. "Come on, we'd better start getting ready or we won't be ready in time." Ruthie said.

Soon it was time to head to the church. Before Ruthie got in the van, she took one last look at the house she had grown up in. "This is going to be my last time at this house as a single woman." she said happily. When she saw the sad look on Annie's face, she smiled and continued. "Don't worry, Mom. It's not my last time at the house period."

Annie tried to smile. "I know, it's just sad. My baby girl is getting married. It will just be me and the boys from now on. Wherever did the time go? It seems like only yesterday your father laid you in my arms after you were born. Now look at you. You're getting married!" Annie's attempts to hold back her tears had failed. Tears ran down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them away, but as she looked around, she saw that she wasn't the only on crying. Ruthie was crying, too, along with Lucy and Mary, who had both decided to ride in the van with Annie and Ruthie rather than drive separately as the others had chosen to do.

"Mom, stop it!" cried Lucy. "We're going to ruin our makeup! We can't have Ruthie walking down the aisle with smeared mascara, now can we?" Everyone laughed.

"You're right, Lucy. Now come on, let's get you to the church, Ruthie. We can't have you being late to your own wedding."

When they got to the church, Lucy got out first to make sure that their was no sign of Peter. Once she saw that the coast was clear the others got out as well. They rushed Ruthie into Lucy's office and shut the door, making sure that there was no chance of Peter seeing his bride before the wedding. A few minutes after they had arrived, someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Lucy called.

"It's Kevin. Can I come in?" replied Kevin. Lucy opened the door just wide enough to let them in, and then shut it as soon as Kevin and Chandler were inside. "Matt and Simon want to see you now if you're ready." he informed them.

"I'm ready." Ruthie replied.

"Okay. I'll go get them." Kevin said, and then left. A few minutes later he was back, along with Matt and Simon. Then he, along with all the others in the room besides Matt and Simon, slipped out.

Matt was the first to speak. "Wow, Ruthie, you look so…so…beautiful and grown up!" Matt exclaimed.

Ruthie laughed. "Isn't the bride supposed to look beautiful and grown up on her wedding day? You wouldn't want people to think that Peter's robbing the cradle, now would you?"

Matt and Simon laughed. "No, I guess not." matt admitted. "But it's still hard to believe that my little sister is old enough to get married. It's making me feel old."

"That, dear brother, is because you are old." Ruthie teased him.

"Hey! I'm not that old!" Matt insisted.

"Okay, okay, break it up" Simon joked. "We can't have the bride getting into a fight on her wedding day. Anyways, there's a few other people who want to see you too. Is that okay?"

"As long as it's not Peter, I don't care who seems me." replied Ruthie.

"Okay, we'll go get them. Come on, Matt." simon said. He and Matt left the room.

A few minutes later there was a knock. "Ruthie, can I come in?" Carlos asked.

"Sure, Carlos, come on in." Ruthie replied.

"Wow, you're beautiful, Ruthie." he said. "don't tell Mary I said that. She might get jealous."

Ruthie laughed. "My lips are sealed."

Carlos turned serious. "Ruthie, you are a lovely woman, and I hope that you and Peter have an easier time of it than Mary and I did. I also hope that you two will share as much love as we do now."

Ruthie hugged him. "Thank you, Carlos."

"Well, I can't stay any longer, because there's a surprise guest outside that wants to see you." Carlos left, but returned a few minutes later. "Close your eyes, Ruthie."

Ruthie obeyed. She heard the door open again and then shut, and then she heard, "Okay, open your eyes now, Ruthie."

When Ruthie saw who it was, she squealed. "Ben! I thought you couldn't make it!"

"I thought that I couldn't, too, but then at the last minute I was able to come. I just wanted to see you now, cause I know after the wedding you'll be surrounded by people." Ben explained

"I'm so glad that you could come, Ben."

Just then Kevin poked his head in the door. "Ben, you'd better go take your place now."

After Ben left, Ruthie looked at Kevin quizzically. "Don't you have to go get in your place now?" Kevin was supposed to be one of Peter's groomsmen.

Kevin just smiled. "Nope. I'm going to walk you down the aisle. Someone else has taken my place as groomsman."

Lucy peeked into her office. "Kevin, Ruthie, it's time." She then hurried back to her spot.

Kevin looked at Ruthie. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Ruthie took a deep breath, and then nodded. "Yes, I'm ready." she replied. Kevin and Ruthie reached the doors into the auditorium just as the music Ruthie had chosen to walk down the aisle to started playing. Kevin opened the doors, and then offered his arm to Ruthie. She took it, and together they started walking down the aisle. When the congregation saw Ruthie, they gasped. Ruthie was absolutely beautiful. She was wearing a white wedding dress with a semi-cathedral train. It had a brown sash tied around the waist, complimenting her bridesmaids dresses, which were brown with a white sash around the waist.

As Ruthie walked down the aisle, he ryes were on Peter alone, so she didn't notice that Ben had taken Kevin's place as a groomsman. She also didn't notice that halfway down the aisle, there was someone else waiting to walk her the rest of they way down, so she looked questioningly at Kevin when he slipped her arm out of his. He nodded towards the other person, who took her arm in his. Ruthie glanced up to see who it was, and it was Robbie! Ruthie's simile couldn't have gotten any wider as they continued down the aisle

Meanwhile, at the end of aisle, Peter stood waiting for his bride. When he first saw Ruthie, his first thoughts were, "Wow! She looks beautiful!" and "I love this woman!" Now he stood smiling, watching as the exchange took place. This had been his surprise for Ruthie. When he learned from Ruthie that Ben wouldn't be able to make the wedding, he had seen the disappointment in Ruthie's eyes, so when Kevin had called him the day before the wedding with the news that he'd be able to make it after all, Peter had talked to Kevin and shared his plan with him. Kevin had agreed, so he then called Ben back up and asked if he'd like to be a groomsman. After Ben had agreed, the only thing left to do was talk to Robbie. He had agreed wholeheartedly. As a matter of fact, he was ecstatic to be able to walk Ruthie down the aisle.

Ruthie and Robbie had finally reached Peter. Robbie gave Ruthie a kiss on the cheek, gave Peter Ruthie's hand, then went and sat down. Peter and Ruthie walked hand in hand to where Chandler stood. He smiled at the couple before beginning the ceremony. While Chandler was talking, Peter mouthed to Ruthie, "You're beautiful, honey." Ruthie blushed, and mouthed back "Thank you."

Soon, it was time for Peter and Ruthie to say their vows, which they had Written. Peter went first. "Ruthie, I have loved you from the moment I first laid eyes on you. I thought you were the most beautiful person in the world. As our friendship grew, I hoped it would grow into something more. Even then I had to move away, I dreamed that, someday, when we were older, I would return to Glenn Oak and marry you. That dream is coming true today. Ruthie, I love you so much. We've already been through so much together, and God has used that to strengthen our love. I promise to stand by you in sickness and in health, in joys and in sorrows, in good times and in bad. I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you when you are saddened, encourage you to achieve your goals, laugh with you, and to cry with you. Most of all, I promise to honor and respect you and to love you as long as we both shall live."

Next, it was Ruthie's turn. "Peter, I love you so much. You were there when I needed you the most. You were there to comfort me, to love me, and to help. So, on this our wedding day, I, Ruthie, take you Peter, to be my husband, my best friend, my love. Together we will build a home together. I promise to be true to you, to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy, and when it is hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to be a faithful and true partner to you, to love you, to honor and respect you, and to obey you. From now until the end of time, I pledge my heart, my soul, my life, to you." By now Ruthie was crying.

When they were finished saying their vows, Chandler said, "Before he died, Eric wrote a letter to whoever would be doing his daughter's wedding. He asked that the following passage of scripture be read right before the rings are exchanged: 'Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.' Eric wanted me to challenge you to remember the words that were read here today, and live them each day in your love. May I have the rings?"

Charlie, who was the ring bearer, came forward, and Chandler took the rings off of the pillow. He handed Peter Ruthie's ring. "Peter, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring, I thee wed." Peter slipped the ring onto Ruthie's finger.

Chandler then turned to Ruthie and handed her Peter's ring. "Ruthie, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."

Through her tears, Ruthie repeated, "With this ring, I thee wed." She placed the ring on Peter's finger.

Chandler continued. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. Peter, you may kiss your bride."

Peter didn't hesitate one bit. He wrapped his arms around Ruthie, and they shared their first kiss as husband and wife. When they were finished, Chandler said, "I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Peter Petrowski." Everyone clapped. Ruthie and Peter then hurried back up the aisle, followed by their attendants.

Following the ceremony, everyone went over to the Camden's house for the reception. Before long, it was time for Peter and Ruthie's first dance. As the opening strains of "The Way You Look Tonight" began to play, Peter led his bride unto the dance floor and began dancing. When the song was over, everyone clapped. As everyone began to move away from the dance floor, the leader of the band made an announcement. "Excuse me, folks, but it is now for the father-daughter dance.

Everyone except for Peter, Ruthie, and Kevin, looked at each other in surprise. Had the band leader made a mistake? Ruthie's father was dead. Nonetheless, they all crowded back around the dance floor and watched as Kevin led Ruthie back on to the dance floor. Ruthie nodded at the band leader, and the band started playing "My Girl". As Kevin and Ruthie started dancing, Kevin whispered, 'You chose our song." Ruthie just smiled.

When Kevin had first moved to Glenn Oak, this was the song that he and Ruthie had claimed as their own. They had danced to it at Kevin and Lucy's wedding, at Ruthie's birthday party, and several other times as well. Now, it just seemed appropriate that they would dance to it at Ruthie's wedding

By the time the song ended, there wasn't a dry eye anywhere. When Kevin and Ruthie had finished dancing, everyone cheered. As they made their way off the dance floor, they were stopped numerous times by people telling them how beautiful their dance was.

When Ruthie finally made it back to Peter, they went around and greeted all of their guests. Almost everyone from the congregation had been at the wedding, as well as many friends. In addition to Ben and Robbie, Margaret and Jane had been there, as well as Reverend and Mrs. Hamilton and Lynn Hamilton, Rabbi and Mrs. Glass, Jonathan and Sandy, who had gotten married three moths before. To Ruthie and Peter's shock, Martin had showed up as well, along with Mac.

As the newlyweds started to great people, Martin came up to them. "Ruthie, Peter, can we talk?" Ruthie and Peter both nodded. "I want to apologize, especially to you, Ruthie, for how I treated you. I was jealous of the two of you. I saw how very much in love the two of you were, and it hurt. Even so, I never should have totally ignored the two of you, especially at a time when you needed your friends the most, Ruthie, right after you Dad died."

"Martin, there's nothing to forgive. I could tell that you were hurting. I only hope that you can find someone as special to you as Peter is to me." Ruthie said.

"Actually, I already have. Her name is Cecilia. We met at your dad's funeral ,and we started dating shortly afterwards." Martin replied.

Ruthie's eyes got big. "What's Cecilia's last name?" she asked.

"Smith. Why?"

"Because she's one of Simon's ex-girlfriends."

"Really?"

Ruthie nodded. "I always liked her. I'm happy for the two of you. I really hope everything works out for you two. Is she here?"

"Yes, she is. I'll go get her." Martin ran off in search of Cecilia. He returned a few minutes later, with Cecilia right behind him.

"Congratulations, Ruthie." Cecilia said, giving her a hug. "I always had a feeling that you and Peter would get married."

"Thanks, Cecilia." Ruthie replied. Just then, she caught a glint of something on Cecilia's left ring finger. "Cecilia, is that a ring? Are you engaged?" she exclaimed.

Cecilia smiled. "Yes, Martin and I are engaged. He asked me almost two weeks ago."

"Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!" Ruthie said excitedly. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded of Martin.

"I wanted to see if you'd notice." Martin said. "That, and Cecilia asked me not to say anything. She doesn't want to take nay attention away from the two of you."

"I don't mind." Ruthie said. The two couples talked for a few more minutes, then Ruthie and Peter moved on to great other guests. The next person that they saw was Robbie. "Robbie!" Ruthie called.

Robbie turned around. "Hey, Snookie. Congratulations!" He gave her a hug

Ruthie grinned. "Thanks, Robbie. When did you and Kevin plan that little stunt that you pulled today?"

"Oh, you mean sharing walking you down the aisle? Yesterday. Up until then, We had planned to surprise you with me filling in for Kevin as a groomsman and him walking you down the aisle. But then peter called with the news that Ben was coming, and would I want to walk you halfway down the aisle? I agreed, of course."

"Thanks. It meant a lot to me."

"So, are you all moved now?" Peter asked.

"Yep. I finished unpacking last week. I'm officially moved in."

Peter and Ruthie talked to Robbie for just a couple more minutes, then they continued to mingle. It was almost time for them to leave before they were finally able to talk to Roxanne and Chandler.

"Hey, Ruthie. Congratulations!" Chandler said, giving her a hug.

"We're so happy for you!" Roxanne added, giving Ruthie a hug as well.

"Thanks you. And Chandler, Thanks for doing the wedding. It really meant a lot to be able to have Lucy as my Maid of Honor and still have someone that I know well do the ceremony."

"You're welcome. I was more than happy to do it. It meant a lot to me to be included in your wedding."

"Of course we'd include you, Chandler! You're a very good friend of the Camdens, and you're one of our ministers." Peter said. "By the way, Roxanne, you did a beautiful job of singing today/" Roxanne had sung "Grow Old with Me" during the ceremony.

"Thanks, Peter. I wasn't even sure that you and Ruthie had noticed, you were so engrossed in each other.."

"Hey, now!" RUthie defended Peter. "You were no different at your wedding."

They all laughed. "You're right, Ruthie, we weren't."

"Ruthie and Peter! There you are. I've been looking all over for you!" Lucy exclaimed, coming up to where the two couples stood. "Ruthie, you'd better go get changed now or you two will miss your flight. Come on, I'll help you." Lucy and Ruthie went inside.

"Well, I guess I'd better get changed too. I talk to you two later." Peter said before going inside.

Lucy and Ruthie were in Matt's old room. "So, how does it feel to be married now?" Lucy asked her sister.

"It feels wonderful! I'm so happy! I only wish that Dad could have been here to marry me, or at least watch me get married."

Lucy gave her sister a sympathetic smile. "I know. I think all of us were wishing the same thing today. It just didn't seem right, without him here." Ruthie had finished getting changed by now, so she and Lucy headed downstairs. When they got down there, Peter was changed and waiting for them.

"Are you ready?" he asked Ruthie.

"As ready as I'm going to get." Ruthie replied. She and Peter headed outside.

"Excuse me, everyone, may I have your attention?" Levin yelled. "Once he had everyone's attention, he continued. "The bride and groom are going to be leaving now." While Peter and Ruthie had been getting changed, Kevin had had everyone form a line on either side of the driveway, and Sam and David had handed out a bag of rose petals to everyone.

While Kevin informed everyone of what to do, Peter and Ruthie were saying goodbye to all of their family in the backyard.

Matt and Sarah hugged both Ruthie and Peter. "You take care of my sister no, you here?" Matt instructed. Peter nodded. Matt turned to Ruthie. "Congratulations, Ruthie. I'm happy for both of you."

Next it was Mary and Carlos' turn. After giving the newlyweds hugs, Mary instructed them jokingly, "Just ignore Matt. He's too serious." She then turned serious. "Have a good time. I want to here all about Scotland when you two come back."

Kevin and Lucy had already said there goodbyes earlier, so it was Simon and Rose's turn next. "You two have fun, okay?" He was too close to tears to say anything else, so he just gave Ruthie a hug., and whispered to her, "Take care, little sister. I love you."

"Don't forget to go sightseeing at least a little bit." teased Rose.

Sam and David gave both Ruthie and Peter hugs. "Bye! We're going to miss you, Ruthie."

Ruthie smiled. "I'll miss you guys too. Be good while I'm gone, okay? Help Mom out." Both boys nodded.

Finally, it was Annie's turn to say goodbye. She was too choked up with tears to say anything, so she just pulled Ruthie into a long hug, and then did the same with Peter.

Finally, it was time for the newlyweds to leave for their honeymoon. They ran to their car, which was parked on the street in front of the house, got in, and drove off.


	12. Annie

A/N: Here it is, the last chapter. I know it's short, but I couldn't think of anything else to write. Hope you enjoyed this story. I may write another 7th heaven story later on, but for now I'm going to concentrate on finishing my MASH story and possibly writing an Emergency story. Please R &R!!

Disclaimer: See previous chapters. It hasn't changed.

* * *

"Okay, boys. Go upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll be in soon to tell you goodnight." Annie instructed Sam and David. They had just finished cleaning up from Ruthie's wedding. Mat, Mary, and Lucy and their families had stayed to help, but had to leave before cleanup was finished to get their kids to bed. Simon and Rose had stayed until cleanup was finished, so they had left just minutes ago.

Annie smiled as she thought about the wedding. Ruthie had looked so beautiful, and she and Peter were so happy together.

"Mom!" Sam's call interrupted Annie's thoughts.

"I'm coming!" Annie called back, heading up the stairs. She entered the twins' room and saw that they were both in bed. She went to David's bed first, then to Sam's, kissing them both goodnight. "I'll see you in the morning, boys." She left their room, closing the door behind her, and went to her room. She started to get ready for bed, and then saw Eric's picture sitting on her nightstand. Annie picked it up and sank down on the edge of the bed.

"Oh, Eric." she whispered. "I wish you could have been here today. You would have been so proud of Ruthie. She looked like an angel, gliding down the aisle first on Kevin's arm, then on Robbie's arm. She and Peter both looked so happy and in love. It reminded me of our wedding day. I remember how happy and in love we were. That love never died. It only grew. I loved you more the day you died than I did the day we got married." Annie let out a small laugh. "There was a time when I never would have thought that possible, but it was."

Annie thought back to her wedding day, nearly 30 years ago, and tears came to her eyes. "I miss you so much, Eric! Everyone said that the pain would leesen as time passed, but they were wrong. The pain is still as sharp today as it was the day you died. It will be two years this October. I find it so hard to believe that you've been gone that long. It seems like just yesterday you were walking out the door, waving goodbye to me and the twins, headed to your office at church."

Annie thought back to the day she had found out about Eric's death. "When I saw Sergeant Michaels standing at the door, I knew immediately that something had happened to you. I didn't want to believe it when he told me that you had had a heart attack and gotten into a car accident. I don't know what I would have done without Ruthie that day. She helped me so much. She took care of the boys and called everyone while I was at the hospital. Even though she wanted to be there so badly, she took care of everything that needed to be done first. Then, when she did finally get to the hospital, she went with Matt to pick everyone up at the airport. She could have let someone else go, since she had just gotten there, but I have a feeling she needed to get away from the hospital. As I sat in the waiting room that day, waiting for the doctor to come out and tell us how you were, I was terrified. I was afraid that I was going to lose you, and at that time, I don't know how I could live without you. Then, when the doctor finally came out with news about you, it wasn't good. He told me that you were dying, that we needed to get everyone there."

She thought back to the last words she and Eric had shared. "I love you." were the last words they had spoken to each other. Annie thought about the rest of the conversation she and Eric had when she had gone into see him that first time. Eric had told her that she had to go on without him and that Ruthie and the twins still needed her. He told her that he had loved her from the moment he saw her. It had been so hard to leave his room that day, not whether or not she'd ever see him alive again. She had, of course, though that conversation had been their last. The next time she had seen Eric was when Sam and David went in to say goodbye to him, but she didn't speak to him. She had been to choked up with tears after the boys' had finished to say anything. That had been the last time that she'd seen him conscious. The next, and final, time she'd seen him, he was in a coma and they were turning off the respirator.

Annie's thoughts turned back to Ruthie's wedding. "Why, Eric? Why couldn't you have been here? You should have been here! Because of you, Ruthie cried today. She confessed to me that they weren't tears of joy, but rather teers of sadness. She was wishing that you were the one marrying her and Peter, that you were the one dancing with her during the father-daughter dance. No girl should have to cry tears of sadness on her wedding day, Eric. Expecially not Ruthie. She's taken your death so hard. She hasn't been the same since you died. She smiles less, and there have been several times, when she thinks that no one is watching, that I've seen her cry. Pretty much the only person that can get her to smile anymore is Peter. You should have seen her the past two Christmases. She hardly wanted to celebrate Christmas. I know for a fact that the only reason she did was for the twins' sake. Christmas was always her favorite time of the year, but these past two years it has just served as a reminder that you were dead."

Annie thought about the events of the first Christmas after Eric's death and the weeks leading up to it. All of the children and their families had been there, with Matt and Mary and their families having flown in from New York the week before. None of them had felt like celebrating Christmas, no with Eric having had died just two months before. There was none of the usual Christmas cheer at the Camden house that year. Instead, there was plenty of tears and sad looks. They had chosen a small Christmas tree, but since no one had felt like decorating it, Annie hadn't even bothered with putting the presents under it. Instead, she had set them on a table. Ruthie had gone up to her room as soon as the last present was opened. Matt had followed her up, and when he didn't come back down, the other children, with the exception of Sam and David, had slowly followed him up, none of them coming back down until a couple of hours later. Annie had gone upstairs to check on them a few times, and each time, they were talking about Eric and their favorite memories of him. When they finally did come back down, they all left within an hour. After they had all left, Annie had sent Sam and David to play with their new toys, and she had gone up to her room and cried.

Annie was brought back to the present by the ringing of the phone. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hi, Mom, it's Ruthie."

"Ruthie! Why are you calling? Aren't you on your honeymoon?"

"Yes, but I didn't really get a chance to say thank you for all you did in helping me get ready for the wedding. We didn't really get a chance to say goodbye, either, so Peter suggested I call you while we were waiting to board our plane."

Annie and Ruthie talked for a few more minutes, then it was for Ruthie and Peter to board their plane. "Goodbye, Mom. I love you." Ruthie said before hanging up.

As Annie hung the phone up on her end, she smiled. For the first time since Eric's death, Ruthie had sounded truly happy.


End file.
